Craig Clouston

Check the Salt

But if the salt loses its saltiness … it is no longer good for anything.
Matthew 5:13

“Ahhhh!” Rebecca was infuriated. “When was the last time you put salt in the softener?” she hollered.
Instantly, Hank knew what had happened. Oh, no! Rust spots in the white clothes! Way to go, Hank! He derided himself for not checking the salt level in the softener recently. Actually, he wasn’t as concerned about the rust-spotted clothes as he was the grief his oversight created. The next week would be miserable; that was about how long it took Rebecca to forgive him.
Getting out of the chair, he headed to survey the damage that would certainly be referred to as his fault. He decided to sow a seed of goodwill, an olive branch of sorts. “Honey, I’m really sorry,” he said ahead of his arrival. “It just slipped my mind.”
As he entered the laundry room, he realized his apology had been a mistake. It was having little to no effect. “How bad is it?” he asked, making his second mistake.
Her answer had all the earmarks of a torch for his olive branch. “Not too bad … if you enjoy wearing orange underwear!” she said, holding a pair aloft. They were a mottled mess of reddish-brown and rusty white.
Realizing there was only one thing he could do, he said, “I’ll take care of it right now.” And with that, he sheepishly turned and headed to the basement to dump a couple bags of salt into the brine tank.

†

In the same way a constant source of salt is needed to condition rusty water, our spiritual lives need a constant filtering to keep unwanted impurities from soiling our spiritual being.
The level of salt must be maintained in a water conditioner, just as the intake of godly things in a Christian’s life must be maintained.
By reading God’s Word regularly and meeting on a regular basis with other Christians for encouragement and insight, we can stop the accumulation of unsavory buildups that cause us to lose our solid footing and effectiveness.
We must regularly check the level in our spiritual salt tank.

Prayer

“Thank You for Your Word that provides life-giving wisdom. Help me to be diligent in my actions concerning my Christian walk so others and I might benefit. Amen.”