Jessica Albritton, Family Connections Minister, LHBC
Luke 14:34-35
34 Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
The other day I came across an article discussing the dangers of salt. As I read I couldn’t help but laugh. This week salt is bad but next week an article will come out claiming salt is the best thing for full health and vitality… After reading the article I began looking up facts about salt. Some I knew but others I was surprised to discover. Did you know salt actually helps you stay hydrated? To stay hydrated your body needs a delicate balance of potassium AND sodium. Salt promotes good vascular health, aids to balance electrolytes, prevents muscle cramping, supports a healthy nervous system, and is beneficial in improving sleep. Not just good for the body, salt also creates traction on icy roads, is a food preservative, and useful in curing meats that require cooking, brining, smoking, or canning. It protects soil from erosion, aids in restoring soil fertility and structure, and is efficient in food crop production. It’s used in over 50% of hillside farms. I was also surprised to find that salt can’t go bad. It’s a natural preservative and never “loses its saltiness.” That made me stop in my tracks because the Bible I read states if salt loses its saltiness, it’s to be thrown out. That started my in-depth research on the chemical compound salt… Here is what I found.
The only way for salt to lose its saltiness, from a chemical perspective, is for a chemical reaction to occur. NaCl is a very stable substance and has a chemical bond that’s very tight. Salt can’t lose its taste. Iodized table salt does have an expiration date but only due to preservatives that are added to it. But even if the compounds added exceed their shelf life, they still won’t make the salt spoil or go bad. Worst case scenario is you don’t get all the health benefits that salt has to offer after its expiration. But when Jesus was talking about salt in Luke 14, He was not referring to iodized table salt with additives and preservatives that had an expiration date. So, what was He talking about? After much more research I finally found it…
If salt absorbs humidity and evaporates it can leave behind a substance that LOOKS like salt but the chemical make-up is no longer salt. The only way for salt to lose its pungent saltiness would be to dilute in water. The salt particles break down and enjoy the extra space of not being in crystal form, but most of the salt molecules don’t mingle with the water and share those electrons. This is because it is non-reactive in its crystalline form.
So we must ask ourselves, what dilutes or waters down the gospel? The gospel becomes diluted when we add to it anything more than the message Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. When we don’t protect the truth of the gospel from added ideologies the gospels make-up changes and becomes something else entirely. This leads to a believer that may read the truth in scripture yet not allow the message to permeate and transform their life. When the gospel is diluted by outside sources it loses its benefit. A watered down, diluted, insufficient gospel is no true gospel at all. It is not useful and has no benefit to life. Friend, let’s be hypervigilant about the complete sufficiency of the gospel! It needs nothing added to it to make it better, it requires no prerequisite to be received easier. The gospel, in its true, undefiled, unhindered form, is self-preserving, life giving, and beneficial. Anything short of that should be tossed out!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Heavenly Father, open my eyes and heart to receive the true gospel! Lord, make me aware of any time I, or someone else, may be adding to the fullness of the good news of Christ! Lord, Your Word is sufficient. It is enough and needs nothing this world may offer to make it complete. In Jesus name, amen!
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Ephesians 2:10- .10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.