Salted With Fire

Mark 9:49 - 50

"For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalted, with what will you make it salty again?" Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

When I read this scripture I was quickly reminded of the times I feel as though I was in a fire and salt was being poured on my wounds cleansing, restoring, and then preserving the end result of what God intended to be in the situation. It can literally feel like you're in a fire and your instincts yell "Run! You are about to burn!" But God calls us to this burning and this salting of fire. The scripture says EVERYONE. So that means no matter what there will be a situations in your life where you will have to choose to allow the fire and the salt to burn or not. And this isn't just a one and done deal. It looks like you can become unsalted according to this scripture in Mark. That means there is a continuation of this salt being in your life or if you resist this salted fire over time, you will no longer be salty.

No one wants to burn and definitely no one wants salt poured on their wounds. But it is necessary and it is a flavor God uses through you to show His goodness, His promises, and His power.

A few things about salt:

1.God used salt as a sign of covenant in the Bible.

Leviticus 2:13 says "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. Salt preserves : In bible times, people would use salt to keep things from going bad or old due to no refrigeration. Salt keeps things fresh and preserves for when they are needed.

3. Salt breaks down: Did you know salt itself does not actually add flavor but it is the job of the salt to breakdown the outer cells of the meat or vegetables that cause the flavor to rise to the surface.

This tells me that the salty fire in our life is a sign of God's never-ending covenant with us, it preserves us and keeps us fresh for others to be able to enjoy and it keeps us flavored. God desires our flavor be that of God's kingdom. When people come from a different nation, there's a flavor they have that represents where they come from; the way they talk, how they treat people, their values, the way they love, all these things show flavor.

Following this scripture about salt and fire, it ends with "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

If you have been in this fire and you have experienced the glorious purifying of salt, you will know it often times has to do with your relationships with other people; salt in your life, salt in their life, and all the salting of relationships and living among eachother. People are messy ya'll, I'm messy, you're messy. We need this salty fire! God calls us into it!

There are 3 scriptures in 3 different places that seem to coincide with one another. We are told a command but then also told following that command how to be in relationship with others.

• In Mark 9:42-50 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him if a heavy millstone is hung around his neck and he is thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life without a foot, than, having your two feet, to be thrown into hell. And if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished. For everyone will be salted with fire. 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.”

God calls us to live a life of holiness not just for ourselves but to be an example to others. Is God literally telling us to throw our eye out or cut off our foot? No, he is telling us to be salty. To allow the salted fire to burn away the things that cause us not only us to stumble but to not be a stumbling block for others as well.

• 2 Corinthians 3:5-12 : Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? But I expect that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test. Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong; not so that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, though we may appear unapproved. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak, but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you become mature. For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, mend your ways, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Examine yourselves, test yourselves if you are in the faith. Paul says you should realize we do not fail the test because Christ is in us, BUT also that you do what is right, that you grow into maturity and as we see in the end again, not just for you but for others! For your relationships to grow as well in building up and not tearing down.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:4-15 : We are not of night nor of darkness; so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing. But we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize those who diligently labor among you and are in leadership over you in the Lord, and give you instruction, and that you regard them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.

Again we are addressed; be alert and sober BUT also the command for the heart and encouragement of others.

Being salted by fire can be the burning away of sin in your life, it can be the hard relationship where people may be salty (and not in a Godly way), it can be the flavor you leave in whatever place and space you enter and leave. Are we leaving the flavor of Jesus or is the flavor not flavored at all?

We become salty by obeying God in the fire, when we want to run or hide or just be left alone. Don't reject the purifying process, don't reject the correcting, don't reject letting it burn.

When is the last time you have felt salted by fire?

The beautiful thing is the salted fire breaks off all the unnecessary things that really give no lasting flavor to your life. The surface things that have grown over time and God never intended to be. So let the fire burn and the salt do what it does. Be God's flavor in your life and in the life of others.