Salt Of The Earth, Mathew 5

As it turns out, the answer is no…and yes. Natural salt without additives won’t ever go bad. Why? For food to spoil, fungal, bacterial, yeast or other microbial growth has to take place. All of these require water. Salt doesn’t contain water, so it doesn’t support microbial growth, meaning it won’t spoil. Remember, salt is a preservative and it’s been part of the oceans’ waters or sitting in rocks for millions of years prior to being harvested, so another year or two in your pantry really isn’t going to be detrimental.

But what about the “yes” portion of the answer? If you’ll notice, we said above that natural salt without additives won’t go bad. Refined table salt–the pure white stuff you probably grew up using–will go bad. It’s not because of the salt, though. It’s because of the additives. Iodine and anti-caking agents degrade over time, reducing the shelf life of the salt to about five years.

Jesus said we, followers of Him, are to be “salt of the earth”. That should speak to us.

First, as salt, we are to be like the salt that preserves stuff. We are to be encouragers. We are to bring The Word of God to those who do not know it. We are to help others to see where they fall short.

Second, we need to remember that “too much salt” can do the opposite thing. If you add too much salt to your food, it tastes bad.

I think of a time that I was trying to be funny when I was younger. I added a lot of salt to my sister’s plate of food. When she tasted it, she was grossed out. My step-father figured out what happened, and made me switch plates with my sister. Needless to say, I didn’t eat that night.

Why this reference? I think about many who try to bring The Word of God to others and instead of using it to show Love, they use it to beat others up. They don’t show what True Love really is. Instead of showing how much they care, they show how much they know. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

You may have read that piece from Real Salt above. It talks about how salt can go bad. This should be a reminder to us that in order to remain “good salt” we need to be in study of The Word, Prayer, and Fellowship, daily, so we can grow. If not, we can become stagnant and ineffective.

I want to encourage you to seek Him to be The True Salt of the earth and let His Love shine through you, so you can lead others to Him.

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Salt Of The Earth, Mathew 5

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Light Of The World, Part 2, Matthew 5:15