Matthew 5:13

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored."

Salt is a primary ingredient in our cooking. Whether we like it or not, we need salt in our food and in our body. Salt has a lot of use and benefits in us. But how people treat salt during ancient times is very far different on how we seem to not value this 'simple' condiment on placed on our tables. In the ancient times, salt is regarded as highly important because of the number of benefits that it can be used for (preservative, seasoning, and even daily wages for service). 

Here in this passage, the Lord Jesus Christ on His first sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, shows the definition and role a genuine believer in the community and in the world. It is not actually a command if you really look deep down into the text, but rather a 'definition', should I say. 

The verse started with 'you are' and not a 'you must' and that makes a point and difference between a definition and an urging. The phrase 'you are' is describing, far different from 'you must' or 'you should' phrases that points to some kind of urging, directing or commanding. 

I want to make my point clear on this passage and this is it: it is as if the Lord Jesus Himself is announcing to the world that "My true disciple will abide in me as I abide in him, and he will be BENEFICIAL to the advancement of the gospel and the kingdom."

Genuine Christians will be used in many ways and different ways for the expansion of the Kingdom of God. He will be the salt of the earth, a salt that will be beneficial and preserving. The true follower of Christ will be the conscience of the earth and will influence many, for Christ our Lord abides in him. 

Reflection:

Do you ever ask yourself, am I a tasteless salt? Because if I am tasteless salt, maybe I am not a salt at all. Now that I am saved by the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, how can I be an instrument, like a salt, to influence the earth with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and give them the message of life and salvation.