Don’t Let Your Faith Git Watered Down
Alright, now, Buttercup, come on up to this front porch and plant yourself like a real ripenin’ tomato vine in July heat ‘cause we’re about to go ‘a-diggin’ into a truth deeper than a low-flowin’ well that has been ‘a-waitin’ on rain since last summer. Matthew 5:13 done says, “You are the salt of the earth.” And in John 17:15-16 Jesus prays thatwe’d be in this world but not of this world. That there is the Lord’s way of ‘a-sayin’ He’s ‘a-wantin’ us right in the middle of the mess, but not ’a- smellin’ like the mess, the same way you can be ‘a-fryin’ up one o’ them there catfish without ‘a-smellin’ like the lake you done pulled it out from.
Now let’s be ‘a-talkin’ ‘bout salt, friend. In that there real old, ancient world, salt was ‘a-bein’ used to be ‘a-keepin’ meat from rottenin’. It slowed that there decayin’ problem. It done preserved what’d otherwise be ‘a-spoilin’. That there is what believers are meant to be ‘a-doin’ in a culture o’ folks. We’re the spiritual version of a good salt rub on one o’ them there slabs of country ham. We’re supposed to be ‘a-holdin’ back the rot. We’re to be ‘a-keepin’ things from ‘a-goin’ bad faster than a possum ‘a-tryin’ to cross a four lane highway.
But here is the real kicker, Buttercup. Salt can lose its saltiness. It can get so watered down, so mixed up, so thinned out, so blended in, that it done gits to stoppin’ ‘a-doin’ what salt is supposed to be ‘a-doin’. Jesus done said when that there happens, it ain’t no good for nothing anymore ‘cept to be thrown out and stomped on underfoot. That there is done Bible talk for “It’s ‘bout as useless as ‘a-whisperin’ to a tornado to stop its twirlin’ ‘round, Buttercup.”
When you go to livin’ by God’s Word at work, you are ‘a-bein’ good salt. When you raise your young’uns with Scripture instead of whatever the internet is ‘a-hollerin’ about, you are bein’ good salt. When you go to speakin’ truth in a world that tells big lies faster than a raccoon steals chicken feed, you are ‘a-bein’ good salt. But if you go to blendin’ in with other folks so much that nobody can taste the difference in your kind o’ saltiness, well, that there is done when the real trouble starts.
God has done placed you ‘zactly where you are to slow the decay. Your family needs your good saltiness. Your workplace needs your good saltiness. Your neighborhood needs your good saltiness. This here world is ‘a-rottenin’ like a forgotten casserole at a church potluck, and you’re to be the good preservative God has done plopped right into the middle of it.
Father, help me be ‘a-stayin’ good and salty for You. Keep me from blendin’ in with the world like a chameleon ‘a-sittin’ on a plaid shirt. Be strengthenin’ me to be ‘a-standin’ firm, ‘a-shinin’ bright, and ‘a-preservin’ what is good. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Now, I done declare, Buttercup, as you’re steppin’ off this here porch and right on back into your day, you gotta be ‘a-rememberin’ that salt don’t do any braggin’, but you sure do got to noticin’ when it goes to missin’. You gotta be the kind o’ believer whose presence keeps things real steady, whose faith keeps things pure an’ clean, and whose life done keeps things from ‘a-spoilin’. You gotta be ‘a-stayin’ salty, ‘a-stayin’ steady, and ‘a-stayin’ rooted in Jesus. The world may be ‘a-spinnin’ like a squirrel that done got a taste o’ pickled jalapeno peppers, but our God done created you to be ‘a-holdin’ the line real tight.
With joy,
Gwen
