Salt

We are called to be salt in the community.

Salt spread through a cake or casserole or any kind of dish enhances the flavour, lifts it, deepens it, helps it achieve what it otherwise couldn't. Think of the king's daughter in the fairy tale.  When the old man asks each of his three daughters to proclaim how much she loves him the older two are extravagant in their imagery.  The youngest simply says, "I love you as fresh meat loves salt."  The king casts her out, disappointed in her seemingly stingy feelings for him.  Later she gets a job in his kitchen where she asks the cook to cook the meat without salt.  Only after eating the tasteless meal does the king realise how truly his youngest child loves him and what a difference the humble condiment can make.

There have been occasions when I wasn't as thorough in stirring the salt into my pancake mix as I should have been. It didn't make the pancakes taste better as my family will vouch, but on the times I forgot to put salt in at all there was a dullness, something missing.

We can't do what salt should if we spend all our time in a huddle with other believers. It might feel more comfortable but unless it's properly mixed in, salt does not make anything better. We need to spread out, to be stirred into society to help others become what they could be, to carry the amazing, life-enhancing, eternity-saving characteristics of Jesus into the mix of confusion, darkness and hopelessness which makes up so much of this world.

You can't always spot salt in a dish like you can see carrots or rice but you certainly notice its absence.  Be the Jesus-salt at your work, in your book/walking club, at the school parents' meeting, in your class. Salt makes a difference but doesn't stand out: you don't need to do something ostentatious to change lives.

Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth.....

November 2nd was our one year anniversary in South Africa.  We've been greatly blessed in the people we've got to know and the things we've experienced. We've seen God's hands clearly in so many things that have happened and grown so much.

November 3rd was the day our house was broken into for the second time in six months. We'd joked about how the robbers would wait a while after the first theft until we'd replaced everything and then would return. So they did, getting in by completely removing a window, checking out the fridge and freezer this time but not finding as much of value - not possessing designer clothes/shoes can be an advantage. They did take the ring that my aunt, who died of cancer a few months ago, had left me and a non-smart phone with my UK sim (so don't use that number, or if you do, let me know if anyone answers it) but we've come to expect that this is what happens in modern South Africa.

Ever since leaving to follow God's call to Nigeria I've had to learn to hold earthly possessions lightly. Yes I've got some boxes stored at my parents but so much has had to be given away. When we arrived in South Africa we had two large suitcases each and hand luggage. God provided everything we needed and still does. When irreplaceable memories are stolen it hurts; when IT equipment goes the hassle of changing passwords is extremely annoying but it all helps to concentrate the mind on what is lasting and important.

It's tempting to walk around town casting suspicious eyes on everyone who passes, especially the street-sleepers, but love and forgiveness are choices; waiting until you feel like loving or forgiving doesn't really work. Not easy but necessary: why should I allow the actions of someone else dictate how I react? (This doesn't mean I believe that wrong choices/actions shouldn't have consequences, that's how we learn after all,  only that an unforgiving and unloving attitude can cause more harm to yourself than the person unforgiven.)

At least it gave me good material for the Bible studies I led in a local prison this week and reinforced Fraser's belief that it's never wise to save a bar of chocolate for later - if you put it in the fridge someone could well break in and steal it before you get a chance to eat it.

"Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." (Matt 6:20-21)