Salt: Good or Bad?

March 11, 2015 | ziononth | 2 Comments | Pastor's Blog

 

Ezekiel 47 says: ⁵ Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.⁶ And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”Then he led me back to the bank of the river.⁷ As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.⁸ And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.⁹ And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the seamay become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.¹¹ But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.¹² And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

There are a lot of passages in Scripture that talk about salt being a good thing. This is not one of them.

In Ohio, we know the corrosive effects of salt on a car. We know that too much salt leads to hypertension, possible stomach cancer, obesity, kidney stones, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis. Ever been to the beach and gotten a mouth full of salt water? If you’re a kid, it’s fun. If you’re an adult, you realize all the kids who have done that on purpose, and worse things, in the exact spot you’re standing on. Imagine getting a mouth full of salt water that’s ten times as salty as the ocean; that’s the salt content of The Dead Sea, and that is the beginning of God’s message to Ezekiel and to us.

God wants to make livable what is now unlivable. God wants us in the right water, the fresh water. God wants us in the right place, to thrive, grow, heal, bear fruit, and live. He knows the corrosive effects of too much salt.

What corrosive waters have we been living in? Ezekiel was preaching these words to a people that had lived in these corrosive waters for generations, building up false god after false god, neglecting charity, listening to the soothing words of false prophets, and disrespecting their fellow countrymen. Today, we live in those same corrosive waters by our own choosing. Sometimes we’ve been thrown into those corrosive waters and we don’t know how to escape.

God says: it’s time to get into the fresh waters. Come to My Temple where the water flows from. Hear the words I give to make all things fresh. Do not neglect your worship time. It is the best way to know God, because in His house we hear, experience, and live the Word of God. And then we take it to our daily realities.

God tells Ezekiel of all of the benefits of experiencing renewal in God, to live in the hope that He brings. In those waters that only God can renew are freshness, nourishment, prosperity, kingdom growth, our personal spiritual growth, and the good works that come from life in the Gospel.

What has been polluted, God can clean. Are you willing to receive that clean water? Or are you going to stay in the marsh that God warns Ezekiel about? Are you going to stay in the swamp? I guess you can meet some good people in the swamp, like Shrek, but isn’t the swamp or marsh where mosquitoes hang out, as well as other undesirables?

Get into the fresh waters. There is hope. Amen.