At the time in history when Matthew 5:13 was penned, salt was infinitely more valuable than gold, partly because of its preservative abilities. God says in this verse that, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot
of men.”
As children of God, by the divine appointment of God, we are the salt of the earth. And God says He has a special function for us as salt. How salty are you today, Christian?
If you use bad salt in an effort to preserve, decay and rot will set in. Verse 13 is clear; salt that has lost its savor becomes useless. If we want to be the salt God desires us to be, He has five commands for us, found in 2 Chronicles 7:14—“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” In this verse, we find the five benchmarks of
salty Christians.
First, we must be called by His name. When the world looks at your life, would they call you by His name or would you have to tell the world that you are a Christian? In
John 13:34, Jesus says if we want the whole world to know who we belong to, it begins with loving the way we have been loved.
The second command is that we humble ourselves.
James 4 is clear that we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. The opposite of humility is pride—and we are either humble or proud. There is no middle ground. And the Bible tells us in both James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 that God resists the proud. If we are proud, we have God opposing us—which makes humbling ourselves so critical. When God gave us the seven sins that He particularly hates and despises, pride made the list.
The third condition if we are to be salt in the world is to pray.God says we have not because we ask not. He tells us that nothing is impossible with Him—but that hinges on us asking. And we can ask God for as many miracles as we want in our lifetime—there is no limit! What’s on your list of impossible asks today?
Fourth, we must seek His face. When is the last time you went to the Lord just to get Him? Not to get something from Him—but to get Him? Too often we want something from God’s hand, but we don’t want His face.
The fifth requirement is that we must turn from our wicked ways. The problem is not sin with our leaders, or sin among those we know. It’s sin in our own lives. But when we turn from our wicked ways, God moves. We must not just pray to be cleaner…but to be clean. 1 John 1:9 promises that we can be cleansed from all unrighteousness. When God’s people get clean and then they pray, that is when “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Do we truly want to see what God can do? God wants us to be the salt! And if we will be the salt, He will do miracles for His honor and glory when we ask.