Salty Conversations

    Yesterday was a very hot day, even for July.  In the evening, Halley and I went to our cottage to relax by our fireplace on our deck.  On days like that, the ice maker in our house never keeps up with the kids.  Just like fire, they never say, "Enough."  However, once on the deck, I remembered that we had ice cubes in the freezer in the cottage, so I got a tray for Halley and myself to share.  It felt wonderful.  After a little while, I noticed something floating in the cup, so I picked it out, and again a few minutes later.  Then Halley commented quizzically, “I think I have mold floating in my cup.”  Sure enough; both cups had a ton of mold floating around.  The freezer had been off for a while at some point and the ice cube trays had been covered with mold in the warm, stagnant air and refrozen later.  Solomon said, "Dead flies make the perfumer's oil stink..."  I found that dead water had the same effect!  
 
The Problem is Stagnation   
    Jesus gave a specific message to 7 churches in Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3.  The last church was Laodicea.  His message to Laodicea was very clear.  They had stagnated.   
   "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  - Revelation 3:15-16
     I guess, now I know what that is like.  Jesus goes on to explain how they had become stagnate; "Becasue you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing.  And you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor blind and naked."
    It is great to be content with where God is taking you.  It is terrible to be content staying with where you are at.  Let me repeat: it is great to be satisfied with where you are going in the Lord and what He is doing in you and through you. It is terrible to stop there!   
 
Two Ways to Stagnate 
   A.  The first type of stagnation is in your own personal growth in the Lord.  David said he would come forth as gold refined in the fire 7 times.  When smiths worked with gold they would heat it up and the dross would rise to the surface for them to skim off the top.  It was the practice of David's time to attain more purity every time the gold went into the refining fire.  In the same way, each time God heats up our personal life, He wants to bring things to the surface that we can remove out of our lives.  I usually do not know what it would take for me to something wrong until a situation occurs that brings to the surface the sin that is latent in my heart.  Sometimes this is pride, anger and worry. When God brings it to the surface, it is a beautiful and painful opportunity to be zealous and repent!
 B. The second type of stagnation is in our conversations with others.  Paul said, “Let your conversation always be full of grace seasoned with salt.” (Col. 4:6)  What does that mean?   I believe, "full of grace" is the Gospel and "seasoned with salt," is the testimony of believers, who are "the salt of the earth." (Matt. 5:13)

Salt Heals 
      When the mantle was passed from Elijah to Elisha in the same way that it was to pass from John to Jesus, Elisha began his ministry at Jericho. The people of Jericho had a problem.  They said, “We have a great place here, but the water is nasty, so the land doesn't grow anything well.” (My own paraphrase.)  Elisha asked that they bring him a new bowl with salt.  He then went to the spring of the city and threw all the salt from the bowl into the spring.  God healed the spring of water, and it was no longer bad. (2nd Kings 2:19-22)  We must allow God to flow our from our mouths living waters to those around us.  
    If you go to Jericho today, you will see a vibrant stream of clean water flow out from under Tel Jericho.  The land is also productive.  The city recently celebrated its one millionth date palm tree in the field along the East side of the city.   
    Having our conversations "seasoned with salt" is about having life-giving conversations with people every day.  We should be including God’s love, grace and peace in each conversation.  Those around us need to hear from God through us. They do not need our own words.  This requires us not quenching the Holy Spirit through sin in our own life and allowing the power of the Spirit to work through us. 
 
Two Solutions 

  Jesus gave the Church at Laodicea two solutions for their dilemma: zeal and repentance: 'Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me."   (Rev. 3:19-20)
   While not all zeal is good--we can certainly be passionate for wrong causes, Paul instructs us that zeal can be very beneficial when directed toward the things of God--loving God and loving people. "It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you." Gal. 4:18.  It is this zeal or passion that drives us to complete our repentance on a daily basis, redirecting our hearts away from what brings death and consequence and toward what brings us and those around us fruitful benefit--the result of a good conscience toward God: purity, peaceful relationships, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).
    When God rebukes us in our spirit or through our conscience, we can rejoice that He loves us and embrace Him in repentance!  In our conversations with others, let's share our testimonies.  There are two basic ways of doing this: 

   A. Share what God has done in us; 
   B. Share what God has taught us or is currently teaching us.  

    Let's strive to include one or both as often as we are given the opportunity. "Neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters are anything, but only God who makes all things grow." (1st Cor. 3:7) He wants to cause growth through our conversations!