Am I Living A Seasoned Life for Christ?

by Barbara Latta

Imagine sitting in front of a juicy steak still sizzling from the grill surrounded by a steaming baked potato topped with butter melting down the sides.
You reach for the salt, shake

A saltless potato has no flavor

vigorously onto the potato, and you take a bite only to discover nothing came out of the salt shaker. The food is still lacking flavor because the salt shaker was clogged preventing the seasoning from leaving the dispenser. The remedy is to remove the top and unclog the holes and proceed with enhancing the potato.

Jesus said we are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).  Our seasoning is what draws people to God, but if we lose our “saltiness” there is no flavor in our lives so why would others want to taste what we have? When our salt shaker becomes clogged there is nothing in us to draw others to Christ.

Moisture weakens the structure of salt crystals causing them to stick together. We all want

To be effective, salt shakers need to remain
unclogged.

to hang together in a nice little group where it is safe. But in the world of salt, that is not good. Salt stuck together doesn’t enhance anything, instead it gets thrown away. This doesn’t mean we don’t need each other, but if all the disciples of Jesus had stayed in Jerusalem, how would the gospel have been preached all over the known world? Each salt crystal went out and spread the flavor in different regions.

Selfishness can clog our lives by blinding us to the needs of those around us. Clogs can sneak up. We may not become clogged all at once. Small things that scream me can creep in unaware until they form a big hunk preventing any of Christ’s flavor from being tasted. The barrier could be a defensive statement, procrastination, or keeping silent when we should speak up to defend the gospel. Whatever puts self above the needs of others or the cause of Christ is a clog.

We all suffer from a clogged shaker at times, so how do we remove these hunks of self?

• Dwell in Christ. Spend some time thinking about Jesus. Meditate on how awesome He is and all He has done for us. Read Ephesians and find out who you are in Him.
• Listen to His voice. Don’t disregard small things. God may instruct us to do something that seems insignificant at the time, but small things turn into big blessings

  

  Listen when God speaks

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• Change our viewpoint. Instead of viewing time to help a neighbor, friend, church or family member as lost time, see the aid as an investment in the kingdom of God.

The more we exalt Christ and others, the more our eyes are not on ourselves. Keeping our focus in the right place will keep those big crystals of selfishness from blocking the holes in our shaker.

What about you? How do you keep your salt shaker running free? Join the conversation.