Author: Mike Runion

 

     “. . . If the salt loses its flavor . . .” (Matthew 5:14)

Surreal, chilled, shrouded in darkness, and dauntingly deep—the massive cave quarried principally by hand into the Romania underground supplied salt for decades. Surrounded by tons of salt the following question flooded my thoughts. How could salt have been there for millennia waiting to be harvested and still it is salty? Just a minute—does salt ever lose its flavor or purposefulness? Jesus indicated that it could. How long does that take? Jesus said, Christians were the “salt of the earth” but then he asked a searching question, “If the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?”

Why would Jesus refer to salt losing saltiness? Salt has been in the earth thousands of years and it is salty still! Science can demonstrate that salt, even after processed, has a really long shelf life and there is really only one way salt can lose its saltiness—it must become mixed with something that dissolves the sodium chloride. In this way it can indeed lose its saltiness.

For a believer this means that their life becomes mixed or diluted in worldliness so that their testimony is weakened and rendered ineffective. No longer will they display an appetizing faith for someone hungering for true answers. The Christian who lives carelessly close to worldliness can indeed lose his or her saltiness, their flavor, or the taste that makes faith in Christ palatable for those who are searching.

Stay close and clean in Christ….stay salty!

 

    Thought Life

Isa 55:6-9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

 Secure the stethoscope ear tips. Warm the diaphragm in your hands. Now, place your stethoscope over Isaiah’s heart. There—now you can hear it—the heartbeat of God! With every thump you can watch Isaiah pen God’s thoughts and ways from an ancient inkwell onto the pages of God’s Word. How kind of him to share with us the differences he observed between God and us. The dissimilarities in the way we think. You have noticed the same, haven’t you? Our perspectives and viewpoints are unlike God’s.

Perhaps, another-heart beat would be appropriate here. Isaiah writes, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7). Could it be that God’s thoughts are totally for our good? He told Jeremiah, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Is not His thoughts better than my own? We can self-destruct looking for temporary happiness. All the while God dispenses eternal joy! God’s heart-beat, His thoughts and His ways are worth our paying attention to.

For example, we watch a parade go by one float at a time. We hear one band at a time and further into the parade another and then another. We wait to see what is coming around the corner. God though, sees the whole parade at one time. From start to finish God knows the end from the beginning. We must believe that He can see what we can’t—that which is not visible to you and me is clearly known to God from eternity past. We cannot see around the corner but take comfort—He can.

How careful we should be when listening to our somewhat diminished and inferior thoughts? Our minds are so susceptible to error through our pride and our rationale inclined to misconception and fallacy. Our logic is continually influenced by the ever increasing secularization of our world and church. Is not our heart, “deceitful above all things?” Jeremiah observed. He then asked, “Who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9–10). “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind” responds God.

Suppose then we remove the stethoscope, while the warmth from Isaiah’s heart still occupies its surface and place it over our own heart. Place the ear tips now in the Master’s ear. He searches … deep breath … again! What does God listen for …

He waits for it,

To hear what? The pulse of His thoughts and ways in our heartbeat!

“Seek him while he may be found call upon Him while he is near” (Isa. 55:6-9).

 

“Everything Life”

What about “Life?” It could be said that there is perhaps no greater debate in our times than conversations concerning the origins of life. How did life begin? Is there a purpose and a creator? What is life about and more importantly—where is life going?

Whatever you might believe there are many relevant and compelling question concerning everyday life. For example; for what purpose are we here? Is there really a bigger picture? What values will I teach my children? What will I do with this life? Will I live it for myself, for others, for wealth or will I waste this treasured gift? Why are there limits in life and why is there a limit to my life. More mysteriously, is there life beyond the limits of this life?

Is there a “type” of life out there that is better than all other types of life and lifestyles? I believe there is and these notes are about the unsurpassed life—a life more abundant!

Life is a beautiful gift. These personal notes are written from a premise that there is a life-giver, a creator and sustainer. That creation began by an intelligent designer and that He is the giver of “Everything Life!”

“He himself gives life and breath to everything.” (Acts 17:25)