“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Matt. 5:13(NKJV)
We are not just citizens of the Kingdom to enjoy all the blessings thereof. As citizens we have obligations and responsibilities that we need to live up to. Although we do not earn our right to citizenship in God’s Kingdom by our works, we are admonished to live our lives in accordance with God’s Word. It should be our desire and effort to keep the commandments of the Kingdom.
I am a selfish person if I don’t care about living within Kingdom guidelines. As a citizen I am called upon to exhibit certain behavior leading to the proclamation of the Gospel. One responsibility we have is to be “salt”. What does salt do? Its primary purposes are to give flavor and preserve existence. If we are the salt of the earth, how then should we behave? Think about the answers to a few questions. What is food like with no salt? What is food like with too much salt? Is it “the more the better” when it comes to salt? Until refrigeration was invented the main way to preserve food was to salt it. It required that one know the characteristics of salt and how to use it in every situation.
Do we as Christians know how to be salt? Do we know how to use what we have to season the earth? The Scripture says, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge, because they have rejected knowledge.” Lack of salt reduces flavor, but too much salt ruins the food. Too much salt will even make “earth” itself barren and unable to produce life. The Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and salted the ground to make it lifeless for years. With God’s grace let us strive to salt the earth correctly and fruitfully.