The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 173


The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 173

Luke 14:25-33 – “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? “It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Mark 9:49-50 – “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. “Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another.”
Matthew 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah
The passages above are spoken at various times throughout the ministry of Christ, He challenges those following Him that if they intend to remain true to His calling them, that they must be fervent in faith. The apostle Peter and others like Thomas struggled. Also, of the twelve called, one was never true to faith in God, and of the others, they seemed to fall off the radar. But let us not discredit the others since Jesus knew the apostles were anxious to leave Jerusalem and answer the call of the great commissioning; see Acts 1:4-5. 

There seems to be a call for disbursement of the apostles on the day of Pentecost after the Holy Spirit descended and after the crowd heard them speak in the various languages of those who were visiting Jerusalem that day, my thought is that many were disbursed to these countries as missionaries. Also, there is the first persecution of the apostles and disciples, then Stephen was martyred, and the church begins to take hold and grow through persecution and sacrifice.

So, what has all of this to do with “salt” losing its flavor? If salt loses its properties of seasoning and preserving, it becomes worthless and becomes unusable. I believe the key to understanding these various comments of Jesus are found in the last phrase of Luke 14:33 – “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Also, in Mark 9:49-50, Jesus makes another strong statement, “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another.” And lastly, Matthew 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth.”

“He who has ears to hear” is always a reference to personal faith working with the Holy Spirit, so in conclusion, we are all called to be fervent in faith, just as SALT on a wounded world of sin and death. Today, in the United States, I believe our faith in God and the Power of God the Holy Spirit in our lives do not line up properly with being the “salt of the earth”. Churches in this country appear phony to the average religious Muslim and the secular Jew. Our ways of serving God have lost the power to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-12).

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