Since ancient times salt has had an important place in the lives of people.
It is not only a preservative, but makes food palatable, and men and animals
instinctively seek to supplement or improve their regular diet with it.
Salt was a necessary ingredient in the Levitical sacrifices. It represented
the covenant of God which was one of permanent continuance and perpetual
obligation: And every oblation of thy meat
offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt
of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all
thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. Lev 2:13.
The custom of pledging friendship or confirming a compact by eating food
containing salt is still retained among Arabic speaking people. The Arabic
word for salt and for a compact or treaty is the same. Once an Arab has received
in his tent even his worst enemy and has eaten salt (food) with him, he is
bound to protect his guest as long as he remains.
The Lord gave over the kingdom of Israel to King David and his sons by a
covenant of salt. 2 Chr 13:5. This
was a pledge from God, and an unconditional promise, that the kingdom would
remain in the Davidic line.
In Matt 5:13 the Lord calls the
believers the salt of the earth. Salt is a preservative. If we have God's
salt in us we can preserve a witness to His truth, and see His purposes fulfilled
in and through our lives. Salt that has been contaminated loses its strength
when subjected to extremes of temperature and climate (especially dampness),
because the impurities react chemically with the salt and rob it of its savor,
making it good for nothing - useless.
Believers are surrounded continually by evil and impurity. This evil can
overwhelm anyone if the proper precautions are not taken. We must be filled
with the Word of God. Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly in all wisdom... Col 3:16. Then, and only then,
can Col 4:6 be fulfilled in our lives:
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know
how ye ought to answer every man.
Christians should be worth their salt
and not be laid on the shelf because they have
lost their savor. The secret - faithfulness
to the Word.
