Colossians 4:6
“Let your speech always be
gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each
person.”
Like most instructions in Scripture, the one above is a
great example of my failure to put it into my life style. First, we must come to the
understanding that it is not a suggestion or request it is successful
living. We may not understand what
seasoned with salt is referring to, but we should understand the direction to
be gracious in our speech. My dear
friend Carroll Ray Jr., who practiced and applied this verse in his life,
always reminded me that most of us have preacher filters. What is a preacher filter, it’s simple,
that’s the preachers job to say those things, that’s what preachers do, so they
are easily dismissed from our minds.
It came to mind that it might be helpful to understand the
term seasoned with salt: Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible
”It is a covenant of salt
- That is, an incorruptible, everlasting covenant. As salt was added to
different kinds of viands, not only to give them a relish, but to preserve them
from putrefaction and decay, it became the emblem of incorruptibility and
permanence.”
In Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its
taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out
and trampled under people’s feet.” If you have a problem with what Jesus is saying you might
want to refer to Barnes’ notes on the Bible, or Clarke’s Commentary on the
Bible, both give great insight into the type of salt Jesus was making reference
to. It is my belief that you or I,
by not letting the Holy Spirit guide us into the truth of instruction like
Colossians 4:5, lose our ability to bring glory to our Father in heaven. Jesus followed this with we are the
light of the world, but if we hide our light, of what value are we in the
kingdom of God.
It requires more that
self-will it requires setting our minds on this instruction. It will require us to ask the Holy
Spirit to give us victory over our flesh, and it’s desire to be heard or in my
case to come across as funny or as if I knew something that I am totally
ignorant about. That’s the kind of
flesh I showed up on planet earth with, and it is a daily battle to stop and
listen to this instruction about how to be light in a world of darkness.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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