Losing our flavor

In the last part of Luke 14, Jesus said,

Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out.

Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.” (Luke 14:34-35)

Just as salt flavors food, we are to flavor the world, touching the lives of others for Jesus.

But we can’t do that if we are living to please others or ourselves instead of Jesus. And that was Jesus’ point. (14:26-27, 33)

But in chapter 15, we see another way we lose our saltiness. And that’s if we lose our heart for the lost. Instead of reaching out to people with the love of God, we condemn them.

That’s what the Pharisees did. That’s what the older brother in Jesus’ story did.

Let us never lose our saltiness. Let us never lose our compassion, even for those who have hurt us.

Instead, let us first remember the grace we ourselves have received. And let us then reach out with the Father’s love and touch those who are dying apart from him.