Preserve us, Oh Lord!
Leviticus 2:13: “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.”
“Please pass the salt.” How many times have we heard that at the supper table? Salt has such a rich and fascinating history. There is an intense, historical, economic value associated with salt.
In Ancient Rome, salt was so valuable it was used as a form of money. The term “salary” came from a Latin word which is a derivative of salt. The discovery of the use of salt as a preservative eliminated the seasonal dependency of food. Salt was a component of the growth of the
Salt played a perceptively noticeable role in American history. In the Revolutionary War, the British used Tories to intercept the rebels' salt supply and destroy their ability to preserve food. Salt value diminished greatly throughout time as new supplies were discovered.
Today we use salt as a flavoring and as a preservative. It is so common to us we don’t think about it, unless we discover an empty shaker just when we need it most!
When Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 5:13 that "You are the salt of the earth.” they could understand the value Jesus was putting on them with that comparison. We use that saying today as a complement to describe someone who is of particular value to society.
As believers, every time we show Christ’s love through our actions or words, we are helping to preserve our fellow believers and we are adding “flavor” to the lives of those who are yet to be believers.
The key verse of Leviticus 2:13 are words from God to His people. A "covenant of salt" signifies an everlasting covenant. The connotation is a covenant of perpetual obligation.
What is our perpetual obligation as believers? We made a covenant with God if we chose His Son as our hope and life. John spells out God’s part of the covenant in 1 John 4:9. He wrote: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” Our earnest desire in return should be “since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)
"Lord God Almighty, Father of our hearts and Giver of joy and Life, help us today to sprinkle the flavor of the likeness of Your Son over every aspect of our lives. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to the tasteless areas of our family and community so that we may shake bursts of flavor over other people’s lives. Help us to be preservers of life to those who are drowning in the enemy waters. You give us Life Father, You give us flavor, You gave us Your Son. Praise You God and Praise Jesus’ Holy name, Amen "