I have to admit, I have an addiction to salty food. Salt is such an amazing mineral... Just think of all the things we use salt for today; to make our food taste better, to soften water, to melt snow, caring for animals (such as livestock or deer), and even processing wood and preservation. In fact, there are over 14,000 known uses for salt!

AND without salt, there couldn't be any type of animal life (including Humans). That is what this verse is saying Healthy Christians are like! Healthy Christians are "the salt of the earth," and are not only useful, they are ESSENTIAL for life, essential to help others know God and receive that amazing gift of salvation.

However, just like salt; if we lose that "salt," or that spark, that desire to serve God; or if we allow ourselves to do something to destroy our testimony; we take away our usefulness. And in this world, when people see a "Christian Hypocrite" they are quick to trample them down, and make sure they stay down...

I remember a national news story about a Pastor in Florida. This Pastor had a healthy church, a growing church, and preached the message over radio and TV. He appeared to be the perfect role model, the perfect leader as he brought hundreds to Christ. Things were going great for him, until Police knocked on his door and placed him under arrest for the murder of one of his members.

It turns out this "role model" was having an affair with a church member's wife... and when the church member threatened to bring this to the attention of the church, the Pastor wasn't willing to lose what he had accomplished.

Here was a Christian who had lost his saltiness a long time ago. One who took for granted the work of God and made it his own works. One who didn't listen to the very things he preached, and who was more concerned about his own pleasures and desires than Gods.

Now this is an extreme example, but what do you think his church thought? What do you think the newly saved Christians thought after seeing this "Priest of God" on national TV for adultery and murder? Because of his actions, he became someone who lost value, someone who people would no longer listen to. Instead, he became a tool of the world, giving them the excuse to say, "Well look at what Christians do..."

As a Christian it is extremely important to maintain your testimony; your usefulness to God... your Saltiness. Do not let anything take away your spirit and desire to serve God, and do not let yourself fall to sin. Do not become someone that the world can call a hypocrite, but instead hold yourself up as a beacon, and as I said yesterday... be someone who can proudly tell others, "Do As I Do."