Monday, 12 March 2012

Salt Matters

Too much salt in our diet is bad for our hearts, and increases the onset of heart disease. 
Many processed foods have too much added salt, in order to 'improve' the flavour, and so get consumers hooked. It works as a marketing ploy. but kills the consumers!
Too little salt when the roads get icy, and we slip all over the place, and everyone complains that local councils haven't been doing their jobs.
Jesus spoke about his followers being like salt. ' “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.' (Matthew 5.13)
In Jesus' day, salt had several important roles. 
It did provide flavour for food, but more importantly, it helped to preserve food. Salted fish was an important food for many ordinary people, living too far from either Mediterranean Sea, or the Sea of Galilee, to obtain fresh fish regularly. 
Salt water also has remarkable healing powers, so that wounds bathed regularly in saline solution heal much more quickly.
Every day, we are called to be salty people, as we help to enhance the flavour of life for those around us. Helping others to count their blessings is a great gift. 
More challenging is our call to preserve our culture from going rotten. 
And wonderfully, if we are like Jesus, we can help to bring his healing to the sick and sad people around us. How salty are we? What can we do to become more salty?
Best wishes,
Richard

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