Salt
A few weeks ago Shereen and I were enjoying a late afternoon coffee and watching a bit of tv. I stood up to close the back door, since our cats had both found their way inside, and as I got to my feet everything around me went a bit blurry and I just about fell over.
I managed to catch my balance, and I stood for a few seconds with my eyes shut trying to get my bearings. It was a bit of a scary moment, to be honest.
We think that it was a blood pressure thing. Something similar has happened to my dad before, so I asked him, and he said to go and get some salt and vinegar chips, to try and get my blood pressure up. This seemed to help, and I have been doing fine since – although to be on the safe side, I’ve been adding a bit of extra salt to my food.
Salt of the Earth
Perhaps you remember when Jesus spoke about salt! He said this: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13 NIV11)
My little dizzy spell made me think about the Christian’s call to be like salt of the earth! Here on earth, there are people who are spiritually dizzy! Maybe our love and compassion and help to people in need is like those salt n vinegar chips which raised my blood pressure and helped me to find my feet.
Jesus said that if we aren’t salty – in other words, if we aren’t helpful, and full of flavour and acting as preservatives here on earth – then we may as well be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Isn’t that a sobering message from Jesus? Go and be like salt, he says to us. Help the dizzy to find their balance! Bring flavour to the bland areas of life! Preserve goodness and love and all the things that make the world a godly place.
Salt Among You
In fact I like how Mark’s Gospel captures Jesus words. Mark 9:50, Jesus says “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” Let there be an effectiveness, an impact, within you as a Christian people. Don’t be Christians who aren’t useful, and who aren’t at peace but who bicker and fight. These types of Christians damage the witness of Jesus.
Don’t worry, my dizzy spell passed, and my subsequent headache was gone the next day. But let’s not forget our call to be salt today in a world that needs it desperately.
