** Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. ** Colossians 4:6
Salt appears throughout the Bible in interesting ways.
In the Old Testament, salt is used to enhance the offerings to the Lord by the Nation of Israel.
In the book of Genesis, Lot’s wife turns into a pillar of salt.
Several of the borders of the tribes of Israel end at the Salt Sea.
Job talks about salt adding savor to flavorless food like the white of an egg.
Colossians talks about our speech…that it should always be with grace…seasoned with salt….
So what is this salt?
Yes, it can be something real and physical in some of our examples, but our speech can’t be seasoned with physical salt, right? We can’t go spitting salt at people when we talk to them, right?
And why was Lot’s wife turned into salt of all things?
I have some random thoughts about all this salt talk….
I think about Lot and his wife and how we don’t even know her name. Names are very important in the Bible so why don’t we know hers?
I think about how Lot offered his daughters to the vile men that banged on his door wanting to violate the angels that were there to save his family. I ask myself where was his wife when all that was happening? How could she let him do that? I understand the cultural issue here but the Bible doesn’t say she even raised her voice about it.
Also, Lot tried to convince their other children to join them as they fled the city. They said no. They’d rather take their chances and stay behind.
I wonder about what kind of parents Lot and Mrs. Lot were that they had no influence over their children. I wonder what kind of people they were, what kind of example they were. I wonder if faith in God ever came into their family conversation over the years. I wonder if Mrs. Lot even knew who Jehovah was. Did Lot ever tell her about Him? Did she even recognize the angels as angels?
So, when she was nearly dragged out of the city by the angels, she looked back. She looked back to what she loved. Her life in Sodom? Her children that stayed behind? Her gods? Not a word from her was recorded. Because she didn’t say anything? Or because what she had to say had no value?
Then she turned to salt. A pillar of salt.
To me, it is a reminder that God has the last word. That even in the worse situation, the worse testimony, He can leave a message for those that survive or pass by that way after the storm. God always has the last word.
A pillar of salt. A message to live better. To choose better. To know the right God. To stay away from the sins of the world.
Colossians 4 tells us that our speech should be gracious, not condemning. And seasoned with salt…God’s Words, not ours…they should be savory, like a succulent salted steak…they should leave a memory…they should leave one hungering for more…They should turn a tasteless egg white into something desirable and inviting. Our speech should not drive people away, it should draw them closer, hungry and thirsty for more. I don’t think Mrs. Lot left a good taste in people’s mouths.
But we shouldn’t be too salty. Have you ever eaten a dish that had too much salt? It’s inedible. We want to wash the taste out with lots and lots of water. That’s why grace is mentioned. We should measure out our salt in edible portions. We should not overwhelm, badger, slam people with the Word of God. Especially our children. The Word of God should not be used as a threatening weapon on our children. Not on our blood children or our spiritual children. It should always be served with grace. Patience. Kindness. Self-control. Love. Not from a prideful, arrogant, domineering, know-it-all attitude. But with grace. Amazing grace.
We all can remember the years when we didn’t know what was right or wrong, when we were living in the wrong world… so much so that when we approach others we can talk to them with the same grace and patience that others approached us. We can speak with kindness and take the time to help them to understand what the Lord is offering them.
We should all spend some time thinking about Mrs. Lot and how her words left no lasting eternal mark. But her death did. We all remember that pillar of salt.
Let’s all remember to be salty, and gracious to everyone that we speak to today. Let’s allow our words to impact someone for good, for edification, for eternity.