Changing the Flavor

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13 “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. Matthew 5:13

Well, Halloween has come and gone. Now, it’s just the candy left! So much candy!

When my kids were younger, we always ended up with way more candy than we needed. I never let them keep their own candy separately. But we didn’t just dump everything into one big bowl, either. We always went through their orange, plastic pumpkin buckets and sorted everything out into at least two bowls. One bowl was for the fruity candy, and one was for the chocolate. And if there was anything minty, it had to be in a container all its own. There was a reason for this separation. I do not like a chocolate candy bar to taste fruity, and there is something very unpleasant, in my opinion, about a peanut butter-chocolate-mint flavor combination. Nope. Not appealing.

Now, you might be thinking that’s a little crazy, but apparently, I am not the only one that does this. I had to laugh at a teacher’s meeting last week. We had a large amount of candy for staff members out on a table. It was full of Starburst, Nerds, Laffy Taffy, etc. Beside the container was a large variety bag of chocolate candy bars. When one teacher went to add an additional bag of chocolate candy to the large container of fruity flavors, there was more than one teacher who quickly corrected the error!

When different candies are mixed together in the same storage container and left for a period of time, there will be some of the flavors that bleed over into the others. Even though they are individually packaged, somehow, if they spend enough time next to each other, the fruity or minty candies manage to bleed through their wrappers enough to change the flavor of the chocolate candy.

Jesus taught his disciples to be a little bit like that. He told them that they should affect the flavor of the world around them. They should be like salt. Have you ever eaten a bag of popcorn without salt? Ever forgotten to salt the potatoes when you fixed a meal? Without salt, food is just not as tasty. Just a little salt enhances the flavor of whatever it is added to. A little salt will permeate a whole dish of food. Suddenly, the food that was once bland and unappealing is now flavorful and enjoyable to eat.

It makes me ask myself: What kind of flavor am I adding to my world? When I am “mixed in” with the world, can others tell that I’ve been there? I want to affect the world around me in a positive way. I want to let a bit of Jesus seep out and change those around me.

In order to do that, I must first be filled myself. I have to spend time reading and thinking about God’s word each day, praying and listening to His Holy Spirit all throughout my day, and being available to others around me. For me, Christian music is a very important part of my “filling up.” Sometimes, I have to empty out some of the negative thoughts and feelings -- confessing my sin and turning my worries over to Jesus. Without that emptying out process, I don’t have room to be completely filled with God’s goodness, grace, and love. And then, I have to be intentional about connecting with others around me, too. I have to purposely mix myself in!

I wish I could say that I was always full of the Holy Spirit, but I know I am not. I do not always make a positive impact on those around me like I could. But God is still working on me, and I always hope to be closer tomorrow than I am today. And I hope you are, too. Because when Christ is in us, and we are in the world, we can make a difference for His kingdom, one connection at a time.

Lord, help us to want more and more of You each day. Show us how to live in this world so that we change its flavor, without allowing the world to change ours. Fill us up with Your Holy Spirit so that we can overflow and touch those around us with Your love.