Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Salt is a multilayered metaphor in the Bible. Salt is used to purify, preserve and season. It is also an implement of punishment and cursing (Lot's wife becomes a pillar of salt, a victorious ar "salts the earth" and so on). Jesus calls his audience the "salt of the earth" and cautions that flavorless salt is good for nothing but being gravel. As hearers of Matthew 5:13 now, how are we to receive these words?

In the very next verse, Jesus uses metaphors of light that cannot be hidden - while salt can be used as punishment, Jesus seems here to be calling us to be a flavorful and preservative presence. St. Augustine once wrote in praise of God, "Thou hast put salt on our lips, that we may thirst for Thee." As a flavorful presence, we season and preserve the world if we possess the Beatitudes Jesus mentions in his Sermon on the Mount, and these same traits might also provoke thirst for the things of God that Jesus has mentioned earlier in the sermon (the thirst for righteousness). Today, we may think about whether we ourselves are truly "salt of the earth" and about those in our lives who might be whetting our thirst for the things of God.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,