Daily Bible Reading – February 13, 2021

Feb 13 (Daily reading: Leviticus 1-4) “Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God will not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt” (2:13). I became intrigued about the importance of salt in the Bible when I read “The Saving Life of Christ,” by Major Ian Thomas.

“Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another” (Mk. 9:50). Why did Jesus tie having salt in ourselves to being at peace? It is related to the idea of bringing a positive influence upon a disquieting situation to have peace. Salt is positive; it makes things better! Consider this story about Elisha. When the men of a town told Elisha that the water was bad, he told them to put some salt in a new jar. Elisha then went out to the source of the water supply and threw the salt in it. He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer’” (2 Kgs. 2:20-21). The water was made pure by the addition of salt.

Salt is known for its healing qualities. The writer of Hebrews advised us to “pursue peace with all people,” and then added, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled” (Heb. 12:14-15). When the root of bitterness produces its bitter fruit, peace will disappear. As Elisha applied salt to the source of the water, so must we apply salt to the source, or root, of bitterness so that peace can reign. This is the “salt” that Jesus told us to have in ourselves, being led by the Holy Spirit to replace bitterness with peace in our relationships. This is the “salt” that we have become when Jesus became our Savior and Lord, as He said, “You are the salt of the earth” (Mt. 5:13). To be the salt of the earth is to be, at least in part, a peacemaker! (Adapted from my book, p. 129)

-Al Gary


Posted

in:

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Get in touch with us.