Who’s the Salt Shaker?
I saw a Far Side cartoon the other day which portrayed a large group of slugs gathered together nervously doing obeisance before a HUGE towering salt shaker. The caption read, “Of course the slugs worshipped their god out of fear, not love.” (Shaking enough salt on a slug will kill it by dehydration.)
Unfortunately, many folk have mistakenly applied this same imagery to their Creator God. True enough, we have spurned Him, disobeyed Him, turned our backs and rebelled against Him, and a huge gap has resulted in our relationship with Him. Judgment indeed does await apart from His intervention.
But our God has intervened. He has taken all punishment upon Himself in Jesus Christ. As Pastor Andrew rightly pointed out to us this past Sunday, “God our Savior… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3b-4). In Christ’s pure sacrifice there is efficacy enough to be “a ransom for all people” (v. 6).
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” (Ps. 103:13-14).
But restoration is not only a matter of what is God’s will, but also of what is man’s will.
God will not take from us our free will, and if we willfully refuse to acknowledge our unholiness there is nothing left for us but judgment. God is holy and unless we are made holy too we cannot exist in His Presence.
Our job as believers, as saved souls travelling to a blessed eternity, is to act while we can to bring this gospel truth to a lost and misunderstanding humanity. God does not see us as slugs. He is not a giant salt shaker waiting to destroy us. Rather, in God’s economy, “Salt is good” (Luke 14:34; Mark 9:50). In God’s economy you are the salt shakers.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matt. 5:13).
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Col. 4:6).
Remember, “God our Savior… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3b-4), and for this reason we all ought pray.
More tomorrow…
To hear Pastor Andrew’s Sunday message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.
thebrokenrunner 