You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Matthew 5:13

In the year that Rachel Remen’s father declared bankruptcy, the family agreed that all Christmas gifts should be homemade. But laying there in the middle of all the homemade gifts was one velvet box—from her father. Because it was the year of Rachel’s thirteenth birthday her father had violated the homemade-rule to give her twenty-four-carat gold earrings. She fretfully looked in the mirror. And what does a thirteen-year-old girl see when she looks at herself in the mirror? She described herself as sallow and pimply-faced with hair that was oily even after she washed it. The earrings looked absurd. She threw them into her father’s lap and demanded that he take them back. She looked too stupid and ugly to wear them. After she had cried herself out, her father quietly said, “I know they don’t look right now, but I bought them because someday they will suit you perfectly.” You can read this story and others like it in Kitchen Table Wisdom.

Look in the mirror. Even if we can’t see it, Jesus wants us to know that we are the salt of the earth. But what does that mean?

We are salt. Salt is essential. Even more than seasoning, salt is a guard against spoilage. We are here to keep all that is good and true from spoiling.

We are of the earth. We aren’t designed to separate ourselves from the world. Our homes, our offices, our neighborhoods—earthy as they may seem, are exactly where God scattered us to add heavenly-flavors to everyday, ordinary life.

And we are to stay salty. Jesus warns that if our values become so much like the world that we no longer recognize and take a stand against injustice, impurity, and corruption, the world will trample us underfoot as irrelevant and useless.

Remember, regardless of what you see when you look in the mirror, Jesus wants you to know that you are his twenty-four-carat disciple. Stay salty, my friend!

FOR REFLECTION: Name some “heavenly values” that seem to be especially threatened in today’s world. What can a person do to preserve these values? What are the special challenges you face in upholding heavenly values in places that are especially “earthy”?

PRAYER: Gracious God, I’d like to add heavenly flavor to places you have scattered us here on earth, but it’s hard. I don’t want to come off as judgmental, holier-than-thou, or too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly good. Help me to preserve what is good. Help me add flavor that is so pleasing it can only come from You. Amen.

Dave Peterson is an ordained pastor who is the Director of Community Outreach for The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation and Scholarly Advisor for the H. E. Butt Family Foundation. He is the author of Receiving and Giving, Unleashing the Bless Challenge in Your Life. Dave and his wife, Terri, have four adult children and four grandchildren.