Meditations on the fate of Salt loosing its taste
Thought about these words and felt compelled to share the meditations and insight I gained from thinking through. We are very smart at proffering reasons for ugly incidents. Very rarely do we analyse why things are good with us. The disciples saw a man that was born blind and quickly concluded; either this man or his parents had sinned else he would not have been born blind. Then they posed the question; "who sinned ...?" I am not sure if a direct answer to that question would have helped them or the man. So it is with many of us. It is not uncommon to hear people say similar things. "It has always been my experience never to make a mark, whenever I get close, someone else gets it. My problem is because I am of black race. This slavery mentality has stuck with us. I am paying for the evil of my earlier waywardness." This blame game is very familiar. It is thus not uncommon to see believers resort to fate when they fail. They explain their circumstance rather than seek understanding or deliverance.
I believe there is some hope of a regain of saltiness if one loses one's taste, else many of us would have been long trampled under foot. The Lord had spoken during one of His teachings that such salt would be thrown and trodden under foot. Elsewhere, He had spoken of the fact that every sacrifice shall be salted by fire (Mark 9:49)-For everyone will be seasoned by fire and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt-. The import of this statement is to provide hope to those that must have lost their usefulness or desire to ensure they remain in focus to the kingdom. For a sacrifice to be acceptable, it must be offered by an approved high priest. Without doubt, Jesus Christ IS our established representative. The responsibility of salting a sacrificial lamb rests with Him. For us to regain our saltiness therefore, we need to present ourselves as sacrificial animals. As ready and willing beings, we need to lay aside the resistance associated with our nature. We need to establish boundaries of territorial self- discipline. Redefine our priorities. Seek pleasure in what makes for an acceptable sacrifice_ Without spot or blemish. Then and only then shall the baptism of fire fall. It is good enough to note that He is the baptizer with the Holy Spirit and FIRE- the regain of saltiness. We shall once again gain relevance in our callings and vocations. There is no greater satisfaction than this.
Dave is a type of example for us to learn from. When he faced those enemies who had stolen his properties, family as well as those of his men, it would have been easy for him to go into self condemnation and accept that it was a type of punishment for his sins/lost of relevance. He had eaten the shew-bread, married the widow of his self-named enemy, raided cities and practically survived on supplies from surrounding cities. He had been labelled a treacherous person by the President of his country and placed on the wanted list. The list is unending.
Instead of closing his eyes and raining fire on his enemies, or self-condemning and accepting that fate had caught up with him, he did what most of us would not think about. He cried, yes _but we all cry you might say. But he did more than just cry. He encouraged himself in the Lord. Most of us would have at best started by raining curses on the offenders whoever those might be. It is very gratifying to handle the punishment of the enemy by ourselves. We think the Lord, who had said to leave vengeance to Him is slow in anger and might have /show mercy on the trespasser. Nay, Dave did not pray initially. He encouraged himself. He remembered the day when uncle Sam had come to the village to visit their father. He was only anointed when the other considered applicants to the throne had been disqualified. He remembered that his father, who was Sam's contemporary had told him that "none of this prophet's words fall to the ground". Oh the giant he killed that gained him envy from the incumbent king instead of state honour, besides the lion and the bear. As he meditated on these, he came to one conclusion. _a man of prophecy does not die before his time. His face beamed with hope and confidence once again. He needed one thing to attack. A reliance on the Lord's direction. He did not decide to pursue the enemy based on his credentials. He enquired the Lord. He presented himself helpless _to go into an expedition which result is not pre determined. "Shall I pursue them and shall I overtake them?" You know the rest of the story.
When you lose your taste, do not clean up old sermon notes and preach them. Never ask for your enemies to die by fire. Cry. But do not stay for too long with swollen eyes. Think. Go to the volume of books. Revisit your vision and not your ambition. Note that the call was not for you to be projected but that you may be God's workmanship. Compare notes with vision-accomplishers like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Joseph and Samuel; and not your fellow men. Then look unto the origin of your faith. You shall instantly receive strength and courage. You will despise the shame of your current apparent experience. Surely glory waits ahead.
Dave survived many other challenges this way. This was how he came through the Uriah saga. There is a place for prayer - I mean closing of eyes and speaking about your matter. Many of us have neglected the place of finding out what is in the volumes of the book and meditation to our peril. We wait for external experiences to determine our focus. God has designed that our frame can only transport celestial realities to terrestrial experience via meditation. Without this, our prayers are mere babbling and facial muscle exercises.
Actions to take:
1. Cry
2. Revisit the vision for your life if known
3. Search the scripture to locate your platform of authority
4. Make divine enquiry of actions to take
5. Renew your mind by the gained information
6. You would have become a sacrifice ready for salting at this stage
Only then can you avoid being trodden under foot.
I believe there is some hope of a regain of saltiness if one loses one's taste, else many of us would have been long trampled under foot. The Lord had spoken during one of His teachings that such salt would be thrown and trodden under foot. Elsewhere, He had spoken of the fact that every sacrifice shall be salted by fire (Mark 9:49)-For everyone will be seasoned by fire and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt-. The import of this statement is to provide hope to those that must have lost their usefulness or desire to ensure they remain in focus to the kingdom. For a sacrifice to be acceptable, it must be offered by an approved high priest. Without doubt, Jesus Christ IS our established representative. The responsibility of salting a sacrificial lamb rests with Him. For us to regain our saltiness therefore, we need to present ourselves as sacrificial animals. As ready and willing beings, we need to lay aside the resistance associated with our nature. We need to establish boundaries of territorial self- discipline. Redefine our priorities. Seek pleasure in what makes for an acceptable sacrifice_ Without spot or blemish. Then and only then shall the baptism of fire fall. It is good enough to note that He is the baptizer with the Holy Spirit and FIRE- the regain of saltiness. We shall once again gain relevance in our callings and vocations. There is no greater satisfaction than this.
Dave is a type of example for us to learn from. When he faced those enemies who had stolen his properties, family as well as those of his men, it would have been easy for him to go into self condemnation and accept that it was a type of punishment for his sins/lost of relevance. He had eaten the shew-bread, married the widow of his self-named enemy, raided cities and practically survived on supplies from surrounding cities. He had been labelled a treacherous person by the President of his country and placed on the wanted list. The list is unending.
Instead of closing his eyes and raining fire on his enemies, or self-condemning and accepting that fate had caught up with him, he did what most of us would not think about. He cried, yes _but we all cry you might say. But he did more than just cry. He encouraged himself in the Lord. Most of us would have at best started by raining curses on the offenders whoever those might be. It is very gratifying to handle the punishment of the enemy by ourselves. We think the Lord, who had said to leave vengeance to Him is slow in anger and might have /show mercy on the trespasser. Nay, Dave did not pray initially. He encouraged himself. He remembered the day when uncle Sam had come to the village to visit their father. He was only anointed when the other considered applicants to the throne had been disqualified. He remembered that his father, who was Sam's contemporary had told him that "none of this prophet's words fall to the ground". Oh the giant he killed that gained him envy from the incumbent king instead of state honour, besides the lion and the bear. As he meditated on these, he came to one conclusion. _a man of prophecy does not die before his time. His face beamed with hope and confidence once again. He needed one thing to attack. A reliance on the Lord's direction. He did not decide to pursue the enemy based on his credentials. He enquired the Lord. He presented himself helpless _to go into an expedition which result is not pre determined. "Shall I pursue them and shall I overtake them?" You know the rest of the story.
When you lose your taste, do not clean up old sermon notes and preach them. Never ask for your enemies to die by fire. Cry. But do not stay for too long with swollen eyes. Think. Go to the volume of books. Revisit your vision and not your ambition. Note that the call was not for you to be projected but that you may be God's workmanship. Compare notes with vision-accomplishers like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Joseph and Samuel; and not your fellow men. Then look unto the origin of your faith. You shall instantly receive strength and courage. You will despise the shame of your current apparent experience. Surely glory waits ahead.
Dave survived many other challenges this way. This was how he came through the Uriah saga. There is a place for prayer - I mean closing of eyes and speaking about your matter. Many of us have neglected the place of finding out what is in the volumes of the book and meditation to our peril. We wait for external experiences to determine our focus. God has designed that our frame can only transport celestial realities to terrestrial experience via meditation. Without this, our prayers are mere babbling and facial muscle exercises.
Actions to take:
1. Cry
2. Revisit the vision for your life if known
3. Search the scripture to locate your platform of authority
4. Make divine enquiry of actions to take
5. Renew your mind by the gained information
6. You would have become a sacrifice ready for salting at this stage
Only then can you avoid being trodden under foot.
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