"Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness,
how will you
make it salty again?
Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one
another."
~Mark 9:50
This verse was part of my reading today.
So I looked up how salt was used through the ages.
Here is a short list that I came up with.
SALT:
Flavoring foods
Preserving foods.
Preserving fish and curing meats.
Pickling olives and vegetables.
Used in sacred anointing oil in Old Testament.
Infants were rubbed down with salt for health before swaddling.
Antidote for tooth decay and tooth ache
For cleansing (salt water)
Marco Polo reported that in Tibet, cakes of salt were pressed with images of the emperor and used as currency. Salt bars were, and reportedly are still used as money in parts of Ethiopia.
During the War of 1812, the American government, unable to pay their soldiers in coin, paid in salt brine.
Emblem of firm union, concord, and agreement: hence the covenant of peace is called a covenant of salt.
Linked with health, hospitality, durability, and purity.
Considered as wisdom in speech.
..................................................................................................
I've been using salt these past few days, rinsing my mouth to heal a sore. It stings a little at first, and then it soothes and gives relief. Often I have used warm salt water to soak injuries and remove infection or to relieve sore throats. It works beautifully. Such a simple, common mineral is so useful. It reminds me of what Jesus said, "Have salt in yourselves." How can we be used as salt? We can offer the hope of healing to an injured world though it may sting a little, we can offer relief, we can offer wisdom, we can offer savory taste to life, we can be spent while we are on earth because of Jesus in us.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. ~ Colossians 4:6
He calls us the salt of the earth.
What does it mean to you to have salt in yourself?
Are you salty?
