Oops! I did it again!

I grabbed that big bag of organic, GMO-free, blue tortilla chips that was on sale. When I got home and opened the bag and dipped a chip in my salsa and started chewing, I realized the bag also said, “No Salt Added.” Yuck! Who wants tortilla chips with no salt? Not me!

Salt is an extremely important condiment in my life. I use either pink Himalayan or gray Celtic sea salt because my doctor tells me they’re “real” salt and they’re actually good for me. And I have to say, they add a LOT more flavor.

But salt does more than just add flavor to food. It also preserves it.

Remember the saying, “He’s not worth his salt!” That comes from ancient times when Roman soldiers were paid a salary (sal is Latin for salt) to buy salt. They were responsible to provide their own food and the salt helped preserve it—since there were no refrigerators or freezers or portable Igloo coolers around. The salt method of preserving food was used for thousands of years.

Today’s verse talks about us being salt in our world.

I think this means believers are to add flavor to life. I know Jesus certainly did. People enjoyed being around him. Well, except for those stick-in-the-mud, stiff-necked religious leaders. Based on Whose child we are and how much He loves us and the abundant life He makes available to us from now through eternity, we should be the most joyful and most enjoyable people on earth. And if we are, we will attract people and add flavor to their lives.

I also think being salt means we preserve life. We know what’s really important in life and part of our job is to work to keep those things a priority in our corner of the world. Sometimes that can mean supporting things that are not popular with a lot of people. In those times, we need to remember that we are in a spiritual war and our battle is not against flesh and blood. (Ephesians 6:12) To me that means, don’t take it personal and don’t make it personal.

Today’s verse is Matthew 5:13 and the Amplified Bible says,

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.”

So what happens when we lose our way. When we’re no longer adding flavor to life and we’re no longer preserving what’s important in life. When we’ve lost our strength and our quality and our “saltness.”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been there. I’ve lost my “saltness.” It’s no fun. You know in your heart you were created to do more and live larger. But you don’t have the strength. And your quality of life is gone.

When salt reaches that point, this verse says the only thing left to do is to throw it out for people to walk on.

I lived in Denver for six years and I was very thankful for the salt thrown on the sidewalks and the parking lots and the roadways during the winter months. In fact, I would not have survived without it. It is essential in places that get snow and ice.

So what I see in this verse is not that there is no purpose left in your life at those times. You can still accomplish a purpose and do some good for some people. But it’s not what you were created to do—it’s not what your passion is—and you’re not going to be fulfilled.

I know that’s been true for me. During those times when I lost my “saltness,” I was still a productive individual. I provided services that were a necessary part of the places I worked. I did a good job. People appreciated me.

I just didn’t appreciate who I was—because I knew I was designed to be so much more. And I knew I wasn’t living life with the passion I was designed for.

Even though there is no way to put the “saltness” back in salt, Jesus provided a way to put the “life” back in us—by forgiveness offered through His work on the cross and by complete restoration offered through His resurrection.

I encourage you to take some time today and talk to God about your “saltness.” If you’ve lost it, ask His forgiveness and grab hold of the restoration He offers through the power working inside you—it’s the same incredible power that raised Jesus from the dead. (Ephesians 1:19-20)

Then get out there and do some preserving and some flavoring in your neck of the woods.

Look for those “No Salt Added” places. They could really use your help.