I love chips and salsa! I will frequently grab a bowl full of salsa and a bag of tortilla chips and sit down for a quick snack. But there’s one problem. Chips and salsa have a lot of salt in them! The more you eat the more thirsty you get. The more chips I eat the more water I need. It’s like a never ending cycle! Salt naturally makes you thirst and desire liquid refreshment!

Now keep that in mind as we dive into a little Bible truth for a minute. There’s a Bible verse that talks about God’s people being salt of the earth. And it gets even more interesting if you really read it closely. Jesus tells us that we’re supposed to be the salt of the earth. In the original text of the bible it reads something like this – you and you alone are the salt of the earth.

I never really gave this much thought. I mean salt is good and useful and all that. But there are some interesting things that are part of this verse. First of all, the emphatic you and you alone is pretty emphatic. Jesus is saying here that this task of being salty in the world was given to one group of people. That’s his church. No not one local church or even one denomination but the whole people of God who confess faith in Jesus as savior of the world. He’s telling us to be salty, to stand out, to make a difference. But not just anyone can do this. It has to be you and me. We are the ones who have to be the salt of the earth. We have to live in such a way that we cause people to need a drink of water!

And that’s the second part of it, what is your salty lifestyle doing to those around you. Think of the last time you ate something that was just over salted. What did your mouth feel like? Chances are all you wanted was to grab a glass of something cold to drink and chug it down right?

Well that’s how we’re called to live as followers of Jesus. Are you living in a way that makes others feel the need to belly up to the water of life and drink freely? We should bring so much spice to people’s lives that they need a drink of God’s water. Jesus tells the woman at the well to drink from him and when she does she’ll never be thirsty again. This is water that doesn’t come from a well or a bottle or even a fountain. It’s water that comes from the words of scripture. Jesus is the wellspring of living water. And our lives should drive people to drink!

And that’s where we have to be careful because some people will drive you to drink of the wrong source. We dont’ want to be the kind of people that drive others to drink of the beverages of this world, rather we’re called to be the salt of the earth that leads people to drink of the water of life.

So be a little salty! For that matter be a lot salty! Know the source of your saltiness is found in your relationship with the creator and sustainer of the world. Be His salt and light as you lead others to drink of the water of life. Next week we’ll dive into how we live the salty life!