Salt Enhances

All right, would you take God's Word with me and turn to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 5, we'll read from verses 13 down through verse 16.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

I want to take the time while you're turning to thank Greg Cox for filling in for Jared Adams,

a regular minister of music, while he is out of town, and also the choir and Linda and June

for doing the excellent job they always do as well.

So, special Sunday today, especially for the Dweber family with Dally getting baptized,

and congratulations to her and that family as well.

Matthew chapter 5, and let's look together at verses 13 down through 16.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Before we read the text together, I want to give you a little recap.

For some reason, Harlan, this isn't working for me.

Would you?

What's that?

Would you exit out of that software and then open it up again?

It should load.

All right, if we have to go slideless today, we'll go slideless, and that'll be just all right.

But I want to give you a little bit of a recap from what we talked about last Sunday,

and that is the value of salt.

How many of y'all knew that salt was on equal par with gold back in the ancient times?

Some of y'all are smarties.

How many of y'all knew that before last Sunday?

There we go.

All right, yeah.

Some of y'all actually know some things.

That's good.

I was not aware of that until I started studying in preparation for this,

and that was a fascinating little tidbit.

And of course, salt was the primary way to preserve meat back then.

And so they called it white gold.

So when Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth, well, that was an impactful statement.

So we see that there is inherent value that Jesus is giving and assigning to his children

as he is calling them the salt of the earth.

Specifically, he was talking to his disciples, and the crowds gathered there

as he is preaching this famous sermon called the Sermon on the Mount

that we read here in Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

And he takes this little parenthetical section to talk about salt and light.

Well, from the word salt, we get the English word salary,

which literally means salt money.

We learned last week that often Roman soldiers and others would receive their form of payment

not in gold or credits, but in salt.

So that was so valuable.

So it was highly impactful and meant a lot more than just the table salt that we use today

as Jesus called his followers the salt of the earth.

So we're going to get into it today now.

And our takeaway from last Sunday before we dive in was, are we worth our salt?

Are we worth our salt?

Well, we know that expression, don't we?

Are you worth your salt?

He's not worth his salt.

We now understand a little bit of context of where that comes from.

So when we're asking ourselves, are we worth our salt in the kingdom of God?

We're asking that challenging question.

We're called to be the salt of the earth.

Are we fulfilling our purpose?

Are we acting as a preservative to those around us,

to the lost world who needs to hear the truth about Jesus?

Are we being a preservative?

Are we worth our role as salt?

Matthew chapter 5, verses 13 through 16.

Matthew 5:13–16

We'll get the screens figured out in a moment.

But would you all join me if you're able to?

Look at a copy of the Word of God if you can.

I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible.

If you don't have a Bible with you, there should be one in the pew in front of you.

Salt is the theme.

In Matthew chapter 5, verse 13, Jesus is speaking and says,

Matthew 5:13

You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?

It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

You are the light of the world.

A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand,

and it gives light for all who are in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works

and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Let's pray right now and ask God to give us wisdom from His Word.

God, I pray that you would enlighten us to the truth that you were teaching so many years ago,

but is still alive today, still relevant, still meaningful for us in this room.

I pray that you would give us, by your Spirit, the ability to learn what we need to learn today

and apply what we need to apply.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

You may be seated. Thank you for standing.

I want to talk for a moment about salt and its many, many uses.

See, my wife is a baker.

How many of y'all have tasted one of Holly Bunnell's cookies?

Anybody? Or something?

Yeah.

Some people just shot their hands right up.

I saw you, Brian.

Those things are incredible.

If you haven't, I'm not trying to make you feel left out,

but you probably do feel a little left out, and I'm sorry for that.

I didn't mean to ruin your Sunday.

But look, right now it's January.

Everybody's trying to go on a diet.

It's probably good that the slides aren't working right now

because, y'all, I had, like, a picture of some delicious-looking baked goods

and candies and such with salt on top.

Did you know that salt enhances the flavor of sweet things?

I didn't know that, really, until I started being around a baker.

Apparently, when you add salt into dessert, it just makes it a whole lot better.

So if you get one of her, you know, brown butter, chocolate chip cookies,

whatever she does, they're great.

But she puts sea salt on top.

And the first time you see that, if you're not familiar with that concept,

you might say, did she mess up?

She meant to put sugar, and actually, she put salt?

No, that's a thing out there.

So salt actually enhances the flavor.

Now, you can certainly overdo it, and then the salt can take over the dish.

But if you use just the right amount,

man, it takes that up to a whole other level of deliciousness, all right?

It's probably good that I don't have my picture on the screen,

because, like I said, this is January.

A lot of people are trying to stick true to their diets, trying to look good,

and that would probably be the result of you having some cravings come back

and maybe cheat on your diet or something.

We don't want to do that.

So instead, we'll just talk about it a little bit

and understand this very deep, very profound truth

that maybe you were not aware of before.

But number one, you want to write it down, salt flavors.

Salt flavors.

Now, last week, we talked about salt as a preservative, right?

A lot of people knew that, but maybe some folks who were not aware

that that is a function of salt it can preserve.

But I think just about everybody knows that salt adds flavor, doesn't it?

That's primarily what we ordinary folks would use salt for today,

although it has thousands of actual uses.

But salt flavors.

And interestingly enough, that's what Jesus references

when he's talking right here in Matthew 5.

Salt flavors.

Now, there's a guy, and I don't have his picture,

so y'all just stick with me.

There's a guy that was kind of one of the first chefs on TV.

He wasn't the first, but he was one of the early chefs on TV

to really make an impact and gather a wide following of viewers.

And he was from Louisiana, I believe.

And he would get there in the kitchen, and he had his set up there,

and he would always have a live studio audience in front of him,

and he'd be making some delicious dish.

And it would look like he was about done,

and it was about ready to be served.

And then he would reach in this little dish of seasoning,

his special blend,

and he would take some of it,

and he would go like this.

Let's take it up a notch.

Bam!

Anybody know who I'm talking about?

Give me his name.

What's that? Say it again.

No, not Gordon Ramsay.

Not Justin, was it?

Emeril.

Emeril Lagasse.

That was the guy.

Emeril.

Emeril Lagasse.

Emeril Lagasse.

Now, maybe some others have kind of done something similar to that,

but the guy I'm talking to was Emeril,

and he would say,

Bam!

And throw his seasoning on there,

and everybody would love it,

everybody would clap,

and he became like as close to a household name in food TV

as you could get at that time,

kind of before the advent of how the Food Network

became this big old thing if you happen to watch it.

But Emeril always kicked his dishes up a notch with his seasoning

because he understood that no matter how fancy it looks

or how expensive the ingredients are,

what people really care about when it comes to food

is does it taste good, right?

So often, you might go to a real fancy restaurant,

and they serve a dish, and it's, you know, about that small,

and you taste it like,

Man, I'm not even sure I like this, you know?

It's an acquired taste.

Well, I haven't acquired it.

Maybe I'm not wealthy enough to acquire it.

I don't know.

But people really just want food to taste good,

and seasoning, of course, the primary seasoning

and the primary ingredient in any seasoning blend is salt.

So when Jesus says,

You are the salt of the earth,

I feel like he's saying,

You bring the bam.

You kick it up a notch.

You are the people that make this life better.

You know why?

Because here's the second part of that profound,

scintillating truth that you've never heard before,

salt flavors,

but the next part is,

Flavor makes it better.

Am I wrong?

No.

Flavor makes it better, right?

On the rare occasion

that my wife makes something

that I feel like just isn't quite there,

I can't think of a time, okay,

but I'm sure it's happened in our years of marriage,

then I'll take a little salt

and throw it in there,

or what's more common for me,

what do I usually add to my food?

Hot sauce.

Take a little hot sauce,

throw it in there.

You know what's in hot sauce?

Salt.

I just like flavor, you know?

And I like the flavor of hot sauce,

so I'm going to add it to just about everything.

So flavor makes it better.

Jesus is calling us

to make the earth better,

make it more flavorful.

What do we mean by that?

Well, let's go to Colossians chapter 4.

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

Colossians chapter 4.

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

Are you somebody who brings the flavor?

Are you somebody who brings the bam?

Do you take it up a notch?

Say, man, I'm not an emerald type guy, okay?

I'm not that kind of personality.

I don't walk into a room

and everybody lights up.

That's okay.

That's all right.

We're not even talking about

a personality thing here.

We're talking much deeper than that.

We're talking,

do you bring the flavor?

Do you bring the salt of Jesus

into the world around you?

Your home,

your thoughts,

your decision making,

your friends,

your circle.

Do you bring the bam?

Do you bring that

which just makes it all better?

That's the challenge.

Colossians chapter 4 and verse 6.

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

We read this last Sunday,

but it applies still today.

Let your speech always be gracious,

seasoned with what?

Salt.

So that you may know

how you should answer each person.

See, there's the little secret.

We don't always know how to answer,

but the Holy Spirit can provide us

with the salt we need

to make each situation better.

So if you've got a conflict

that you can't seem to figure out

how to resolve,

if you've got a burden

you can't seem to lay down,

or things just aren't

how you believe they should be,

God brings the salt.

And he provides it

to you

so you can then bring it

to the people who need it.

See, God could just act

without us, couldn't he?

He could just do

whatever he wants on this earth

and not even bother

with the middle man.

But he chose a middle man.

He chose us

to be his children,

to build his kingdom,

to act as his arms and feet,

his hands,

to do what he would do,

to go where he would go,

his mouth,

to speak what he would say.

And so he said,

as you speak,

as you share with other people,

you walk through this life together,

let your words,

your speech be gracious,

seasoned with salt,

seasoned with the light of Jesus,

seasoned with the truth of God's word,

seasoned with the kind

of relational attitudes

that Jesus would have.

Well, that's hard, isn't it?

Hard to be like Jesus,

but that's what we're called

to be like.

Now, we've built this whole other thing.

Jesus called us to himself.

He said, follow me.

Walk in my footsteps.

Go where I go.

But then we've built

this whole big Christian framework

and world

that often

has veered a little bit away

from where Jesus actually is

and what he actually called us to do.

So when people think of Christianity

or religion or church,

they often don't always think

immediately of people

that act like Jesus,

unfortunately.

maybe Satan's got in there

and

woven his web

and

drawn us away

from the path

that Jesus called us to walk.

Maybe it's just

our own weak flesh

that has allowed us

to

justify different things

that we've done

in the name of Jesus.

But the truth is,

when we follow Jesus,

we act like the salt

of the earth

and we make everything better.

So, Matthew 5.13

tells us again,

and this time

I put it down

in the New Living Translation.

It says,

you are the salt of the earth,

but what good is salt

if it has lost its flavor?

Can you make it salty again?

It will be thrown out

and trampled underfoot

as worthless.

Thrown out

and trampled underfoot

as worthless.

Guys, it is terrifying

to think

of being thrown out

and trampled

under people's feet.

Has anybody

seen something

like that happen?

Or maybe been

at a concert

or something

where there was just

a rush of people

and somebody went down

and got trampled?

That's terrifying,

isn't it?

I know some of you

have experience

maybe on the ranches

or something

of getting,

losing your feet

and going to the ground

and getting trampled

by animals

and that's no fun,

is it?

Let me share something

about this passage.

It's a hard thing

to read

that salt

that's lost its flavor

is no good

for anything

except to be thrown out

and trampled

under people's feet.

Number one,

if you want to mark

this down,

do it.

Number one,

God's image bearers

hold the highest value

in his eyes.

Let me say it again.

God's image bearers

hold the highest value

in his eyes.

Am I talking about

Christians exclusively here?

Who's an image bearer

of God?

Somebody tell me.

All mankind, right?

We're all created

in his image.

doesn't mean

we reflect his image well,

but we're all made

in the image of God

and God's image bearers

hold the highest value

in his eyes.

Such high value

that he sent his son

to the cross

to die

as a sacrifice

for our sin.

And he raised him

from the dead

and he is alive today

and he is who we can

have our faith in.

But,

God's image bearers

hold his highest value.

Now,

sin can ruin that,

but he can redeem it.

Sin can ruin that,

but he can redeem it.

So God's image bearers

hold this higher value

than anything else

in his creation.

But sin

can ruin

our effectiveness.

But then God

can redeem it.

Notice what he said here.

You are the salt

of the earth.

What good is the salt

if it's lost its flavor?

Can you make it salty again?

Can it be made salty again?

No.

But God can.

God can redeem it.

How do you add salt?

How do you add the flavor

back to salt?

Well,

truth is,

salt can't lose its flavor.

It's scientifically impossible

for salt to lose its flavor.

What you can do

is dilute it.

You can add something

that can counteract

the flavor of salt

and that can go bad

over time.

So,

additives can go bad.

You can counteract

the flavor

with something else.

How many of you

ever put

too much salt

into a dish

that you were making?

Anybody?

One time,

I was making chili.

And just so you know,

I make the world's best chili.

Now,

I'm not going to enter

your chili cook-off

and have that put to the test.

But just so you know,

I make the world's best chili.

Okay?

It was handed down

from generation to generation.

It's all about ranch-style beans.

All right.

But I put too much salt

in the family chili one time.

And that was not a good thing

because it's the family chili.

So,

you don't mess it up.

I didn't tell anybody

because I would have had

my chili-making rights

taken away.

However,

I'm Googling on the internet,

what do you do

to make

something less salty?

Well,

truth is,

you can't really

take the salt out.

Once it's there,

it's there.

You can try

to counteract it

with some vinegar.

You can try

to add some sugar in.

You can try

to just add more

of everything else

to make the salt

spread out a little more.

But the truth is,

if it's over-salted,

I mean,

you're going to have

the dickens of a time

trying to get that thing

to be the right amount

of salt.

But you can dilute it.

And I think that's what

happens with us sometimes.

We're supposed to be

the salt of the earth.

But we get diluted.

Our saltiness

becomes a little less salty

because of everything else

that comes in

and swamps us.

Everything else,

whether it's

the lust of the flesh,

the lust of the eyes,

the pride of life.

We've talked about

there's all these warnings

about the pitfalls

of sin and errors

and mistakes.

And this life

has so many distractions

distractions.

At night,

we're reading

Pilgrim's Progress

with our boys

at devotions time.

And there's so many

accurate,

and let me say

that there's certain things,

that's not a one-for-one

example of the Christian life

with exact truth.

It's not the Bible.

Never look at another book

as a substitute

or equal value

to the Bible.

So I'm not saying

that everything

in Pilgrim's Progress

is exactly as Scripture teaches.

but it can be

effective,

an effective illustration

of the narrative

of walking through

this life with Jesus.

And you see

all these distractions,

all these dangers

that try to pull

little Christian

off his path.

We're reading

the kid's version,

so he's a little guy

in our book.

He's actually a rabbit.

Yeah,

that's fun.

Christian the rabbit.

But it's fascinating

to see

and how it parallels

with the distractions

that you and I face,

with the things

that try to pull us

off course.

And that's really

the only way

that our salt

can be made

less effective.

It's when it's diluted

with everything else

around us.

But let me say,

tell you something else.

First,

God's image bearers

hold the highest value

in his eyes.

Sin can ruin that,

but he can redeem it.

And number two,

God does not throw

anyone out

to be trampled

underfoot.

People do that.

God does not throw

anyone out

to be trampled

underfoot.

People do that.

We do that.

We hurt each other.

We run over each other.

We trample each other.

That's not God.

That's never been God.

It never will be God.

Unfortunately,

many will die

without Jesus

and the Bible

teaches us

that they will have

to go and suffer

eternal torment

in this terrible place

called hell.

It was never created

for them.

It was created

for Satan

and his demons,

the master of lies,

the master of deceit,

the architect of sin.

God doesn't want to be

God's sin.

But,

if we die

without being justified,

being made right

in our relationship

with God,

then we will be

resigned to the fate

of having to pay

the punishment

for our sin.

God doesn't want that.

He's not throwing us out.

He invites us all

to come into his family.

He invites us all

to become the salt

of the earth.

Many reject.

Many won't listen.

So God will never

throw us out.

You know the interesting

thing is?

The only thing

that can restore

the effectiveness

of diluted salt,

you know what it is?

More salt.

More salt.

So if you find yourself

realistically

less effective

than the salt

that God intended you to be,

get back into his word.

Spend more time with him.

Immerse yourself

with the gospel of Jesus.

That's the salt

that we need.

That's how we regain

our saltiness.

Add more salt back.

Coat ourselves again

with the salt

and then see

how effective

we can be

with God's power.

So,

salt flavors.

Well, we knew that, right?

And flavor makes it better.

Secondly,

salt makes

a permanent difference.

Salt makes

a permanent difference.

There's a quote

I wanted to share

with you

from a pastor

named John Piper.

He says,

people don't enjoy salt.

How many of you

would beg to differ?

Yeah, right?

Well, give him a minute here.

He's going to explain himself.

People don't enjoy salt.

They enjoy

what is salted.

They enjoy

how salt

can improve

something else.

They like

what salt does.

I don't know

of anybody in here

who just wants

to take a salt shaker

and shake it

into their mouth.

Ah!

Tasty lunch, right?

Should I try it?

No?

I mean,

I've eaten a sardine

up here on this stage

before,

last VBS.

It can't be worse

than that, right?

That's disgusting.

Nobody likes that.

But you give me

some tortilla chips

and a bowl of salsa,

I'm going to take

that salt shaker

and shake it

on those chips.

Give me a recipe,

we're going to put

some of that salt

in there.

Man, that's really gross.

That's why I brought water.

Tastes like the ocean.

Alright.

Salt makes

a permanent difference,

but salt on its own,

eesh,

that's tough.

But when you add it

to what needs salt,

it makes it

so much better.

We don't exist

for ourselves,

we exist

for our purpose

on this earth.

And God told us

what our purpose is.

It's to act like salt.

Now the truth is,

when you add salt,

you can't really

take it away.

So the truth is,

you add salt,

you can't get rid of it.

The salt will remain.

The salt will be there.

Turn to your Bibles again.

I don't want you

to fall asleep on me.

Turn to your Bibles

to 1 Peter 1.

1 Peter 1.

Let's read this together.

For sake of time,

I'm going to go ahead

and read while you're turning.

1 Peter 1,

1 Peter 1:18

verse 18.

Verse 18.

Ready?

For you know

that you were redeemed

from your empty way of life,

inherited from your fathers,

not with perishable things

like silver or gold,

but with the precious blood

of Christ,

like that of an unblemished

and spotless lamb.

Do you see that?

It wasn't perishable.

We were redeemed

from our empty way of life,

not with things that perish

like silver or gold,

not with something

that can waste away,

but instead with something

that cannot perish,

the precious blood of Christ.

Verse 20.

He was foreknown

before the foundation

of the world,

but he was revealed

in these last times for you.

Thank God he was revealed

to us.

Through him,

you believe in God,

who raised him from the dead

and gave him glory

so that your faith

and hope are in God.

Man, just a side note.

If you don't have faith in me,

if you don't have faith

in this church,

you don't have faith

in this community,

you don't have faith

in this country,

you don't have faith

in the political system,

in the legal system,

you don't have faith

in your bank account

or your retirement savings,

or you don't have faith

in anything else,

maybe you don't even

have faith in yourself.

You can have your faith

and hope in God.

It's the one safe place

to put it.

Your faith and hope

are in God.

Why?

Because he raised his son

from the dead.

That's the power

that we can't match.

That's the thing

that we can't do.

And Jesus did it.

We can have our faith

and hope in him.

Verse 22,

since you have purified yourselves

by your obedience

to the truth

so that you show

sincere brotherly love

for each other

from a pure heart,

love one another constantly.

Well, that's a nice thing to say,

but why should we love

each other constantly?

Because,

verse 23,

you have been born again

not of perishable seed,

but of imperishable.

Something that is permanent.

Something that can't go away.

What is it?

It's the living

and enduring word of God.

Because all flesh

is like grass.

You and I are like grass.

What do you mean by that?

All the glory of flesh

is like the flower

that grows in the grass.

What do you mean?

The grass withers.

The grass will die.

The flower will fall.

There is a time span

on all of this

and there's a time span

on you and me.

There's a ticking clock.

There's an expiration date.

At some point,

our time is going to be over.

But,

verse 25,

the word of the Lord

endures forever.

It will not expire.

It will not end.

In verse 25,

the end,

it says,

this word

that it's talking about,

the word of the Lord

endures forever.

This word

is the gospel

that was proclaimed

or preached

to you.

That's why we preach

the gospel here.

That's why we preach

the word here.

Because it will endure.

It's the thing

we can put our faith

and hope in.

That's why we keep

going back to it

time and time again.

It's what will last.

One last passage,

2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

Flip back a few pages,

probably not too many.

2 Corinthians chapter 4

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

and verse 18.

We're just going to read

one verse.

2 Corinthians 4

and verse 18.

So we do not focus

on what is seen,

but on what is unseen.

For what is seen

is temporary,

but what is unseen

is eternal.

We do not focus

on what is seen,

because what is seen,

what you can see

with your eyes,

that's going to fade away.

But what you can't see,

God's power,

God's word,

the effectiveness

of the gospel,

how he moves

and acts in this world,

that will never end.

That is eternal.

That is forever.

So that's what

we focus on.

That's what he called us

to be,

to bring to this world.

He didn't give us

the job of fixing

this world on our own.

Christians,

you figure out

a solution

to world peace.

You figure out

a solution

to poverty.

You figure out

a solution

to all the injustice

out there.

Y'all figure it out.

You made your mess,

you cleaned it up.

You made your bed,

now lie in it.

That's probably

how we would handle

the situation

if we were God,

right?

Created these

ungrateful people

and they just

messed it all up.

Well, y'all figure out

a solution to it.

No.

Instead,

he gave us

a power source.

He gave us

an unseen spirit.

There's an old hymn

called the unseen hand.

And God is always

moving through us.

So he called us

to be the solution,

but he is providing

the power.

I need a volunteer.

Come on.

Let's go, CJ.

He shot his hand

right up.

You don't even know

what you're volunteering for.

You might regret it

once you get up here,

but come on, dude.

All right,

here we go, y'all.

He's already

regretting his life choices.

Come on, buddy.

Here's what we're doing,

all right?

Here, you hold this

for a second, would you?

Thank you.

I'm going to move this

out of the way

so everybody can see.

Now,

full disclosure,

Karen Schaffner

gave me this idea

for a sermon illustration,

okay?

Where are you, Karen?

There you are,

over there.

I'm probably going

to do it wrong,

but I'm going to try

as best as I can

to recreate

what you told me here,

okay?

All right, buddy.

We can set this down.

Now,

take this glass of water.

It's a clean cup.

Do you want to take a sip

from it,

just make sure

it's just water?

Just take a sip.

Come on,

you got it.

Just water?

Just regular water?

Nothing weird about it?

Okay,

all right,

face the crowd here.

Okay,

so dip your finger

down in that water

and see if the water

changes.

Okay,

pull it out.

So there was just

a little ripple

that happened,

right?

The water kind of

moved a little,

but now it's back

to how it was before,

right?

No real change happened?

Right,

so that's what

we are like,

right?

We dip our finger

into the water of life

and nothing really

changes,

right?

We are just one of many,

one of millions,

billions in this world.

Can't really make

a difference,

right?

Okay,

now,

here,

tell you what,

I'll do this.

Hold your other hand out,

dip that same finger,

roll it around

in that salt right there.

Okay,

get it real good

and coated.

There you go.

Now stick it back

in the water,

swirl it around

a little bit.

Okay.

Now it's your finger,

hopefully it was clean.

I'm going to take a sip

and see if anything's different.

It's a little sour.

A little sour,

a little salty?

Tastes a little different?

Oh yeah.

Buddy,

that made a permanent change

to this water.

The only way

to get that salt taste

out of this water

is to dump it out

and pour fresh water in.

This water

is now permanently changed.

But the only difference

was your finger

was coated in salt.

Y'all give him a hand.

He did great.

You can throw that salt

over your shoulder

if you want to.

Alright.

Y'all,

do you see the point

that Karen was making

when she gave me

this illustration?

And hopefully,

I poorly made for you today.

The point is,

he did nothing different.

He dipped his finger

in the water

both times.

But one time,

it was coated in salt.

That's what made the difference.

If we coat ourselves

in the salt

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

if we coat ourselves

in the word of God,

in prayer,

in real meaningful,

deep relationship

with Jesus,

then we bring flavor.

We make a permanent impact.

So our takeaway for today

is this.

Have we lost our flavor?

Are we swirling our finger

down in the water of life

and trying to make an impact

and nothing's really changing?

We're missing the salt.

Would you pray with me right now?

God, I pray that right now

you would teach us

how to coat ourselves in salt.

You called us the salt,

but God,

until we get rid of this body,

we still struggle

to not be salt.

We still struggle

with our old desires,

our old passions,

our old way of thinking,

our old logic.

We still want to go back

to being like the world around us.

But when we coat ourselves

in this salt, God,

we make an unchanging impact.

We make a permanent difference

in the relationships,

in what we do,

what we can accomplish

through you.

Teach us that truth

from your word today.

We'll give you the glory.

In Jesus' name we pray.

교 x

bi x

Achilles

c

S

De

Vi

2018

A