Proactive

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

PROACTIVE

Mark 9:49-50

49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other." 

NIV

We have heard sermons on salt and that we are the salt of the earth. We know about that fact that salt was used and is stilled used today as a preservative and how that is an illustration of how we are believers should be toward this world. But if God is going to destroy this world with fire, why are we supposed to act like salt to preserve it? Salt also is used to make the food taste better, or at least enhance the flavor of the food. Now if we could think of us as believers as salt and non-believers as without salt, then maybe we could say that as far as God is concerned we as believers taste good to him, and those who have no salt do not. Although we have to know that God loves all the people in the world, they are all his creation and he desires all of them to come to him, to have salt in themselves, but the fact remains some will never have salt in them. A major point of this statement is regarding losing our saltiness. It seems that once we do, we can never get it back. That is harsh, but it may be true. If we walk away from God, if we turn our back on him, if we profess our disbelief in him, then it may well be all over for us, for we may not ever be able to turn back. Granted it may seem as if we do turn away from him every time we fail him, every time we yield to some temptation, but that is not actually walking away, denouncing him. We still feel guilt and ask forgiveness for our failure. Perhaps even those who do walk that far, cam come back, as it is only a question, how can they be salty again. In either case we know that we should remain salty, remain a sweet taste in the mouth of God. And we also know that we should be at peace with each other. That might be easier said than done as it seems it is quite easy for us to not be at peace with each other. It seems we can very quickly and easily engage in some kind of ill-feelings toward someone else, especially if we feel harmed or hurt by them in some way. It would seem it is our task to be proactive, being the salt and being at peace.