Friday, June 24, 2022
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” Matthew 5:13
A couple who asked me to perform their wedding ceremony insisted that they wanted a covenant of salt included in the service. At the time, I had never heard of such a thing. Because of their request, I have a greater appreciation of its significance.
Iodized salt is to be found inexpensively and abundantly in most modern countries. Perhaps because of this, some of the past significance of salt is easily overlooked. For example, the word, “salary,” comes from an ancient word meaning, “salt-money.” Likely from this meaning it is said that a hard worker is, “worth his/her salt.”
A covenant of salt is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 13:5 “Do you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?” According to Leviticus 2:13, grain offerings were to be seasoned with salt.
The couple requesting a salt covenant in their wedding ceremony each took a bit of salt from a small dish and ingested it, as a token of their lifetime covenant and commitment to each other. This was in harmony with ancient traditions in which solemn covenants and promises were made by each party partaking of salt.
According to Jesus, we are that salt of covenant. As salt, we have both a savoring and preserving effect upon the world, but we also represent a solemn covenant. Our very presence, as those in covenant with God through Christ, is a lasting reminder of the promise of eternal life to be fully realized when Christ returns.
An old chorus states, “I am a promise; I am a possibility.” As salt of the earth, indeed we are. We represent the greatest covenant promise of all.
Jesus did not say we should try to be salt; He affirmed that we indeed are. Living life the kingdom way, as described by Jesus in the Beatitudes, is fundamental to being that salt.
Rejoice today that you enjoy the privileged status of being salt as you savor, preserve, and remind the world of God’s enduring covenant of salt.
Pastor Steve
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” Matthew 5:13
A couple who asked me to perform their wedding ceremony insisted that they wanted a covenant of salt included in the service. At the time, I had never heard of such a thing. Because of their request, I have a greater appreciation of its significance.
Iodized salt is to be found inexpensively and abundantly in most modern countries. Perhaps because of this, some of the past significance of salt is easily overlooked. For example, the word, “salary,” comes from an ancient word meaning, “salt-money.” Likely from this meaning it is said that a hard worker is, “worth his/her salt.”
A covenant of salt is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 13:5 “Do you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?” According to Leviticus 2:13, grain offerings were to be seasoned with salt.
The couple requesting a salt covenant in their wedding ceremony each took a bit of salt from a small dish and ingested it, as a token of their lifetime covenant and commitment to each other. This was in harmony with ancient traditions in which solemn covenants and promises were made by each party partaking of salt.
According to Jesus, we are that salt of covenant. As salt, we have both a savoring and preserving effect upon the world, but we also represent a solemn covenant. Our very presence, as those in covenant with God through Christ, is a lasting reminder of the promise of eternal life to be fully realized when Christ returns.
An old chorus states, “I am a promise; I am a possibility.” As salt of the earth, indeed we are. We represent the greatest covenant promise of all.
Jesus did not say we should try to be salt; He affirmed that we indeed are. Living life the kingdom way, as described by Jesus in the Beatitudes, is fundamental to being that salt.
Rejoice today that you enjoy the privileged status of being salt as you savor, preserve, and remind the world of God’s enduring covenant of salt.
Pastor Steve
