{"id":3591,"date":"2014-01-28T06:00:45","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devonline.us\/dailyevotional\/?p=3591"},"modified":"2014-01-27T14:26:38","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T21:26:38","slug":"salt-the-oats-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/salt-the-oats-2\/","title":{"rendered":"SALT THE OATS!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark 9:50<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?\u00a0 Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is a wonderful illustration that goes something like this: \u201cWhile it is true that you can lead a horse to water, you can\u2019t make him drink . . . but you can salt his oats!\u201d\u00a0 I cannot begin to tell you the number of times that illustration has come to my mind since I first heard it.<\/p>\n

Some of us in Christian ministry wear ourselves out trying to force people to drink when they show no inclination and, in fact, refuse to drink.\u00a0 We heap on guilt or glitter, but there are still no slurping sounds. What is the answer?\u00a0 SALT THE OATS!\u00a0 Right!\u00a0 How do we do that?\u00a0 It is a good question and deserves careful consideration.<\/p>\n

Salt is very valuable and has been used across the centuries for many purposes.\u00a0 It was used to preserve foods, season foods, and for its medicinal qualities.\u00a0 In Roman times, the soldiers were paid in salt.\u00a0 That is where the word salary came from.\u00a0 When you hear the expression, \u201cHe\u2019s not worth his salt,\u201d it refers to the payment in salt that was received.<\/p>\n

With that bit of information in mind, in what way can we become salty Christians? I have two unrelated word pictures that may be of assistance.\u00a0 Have you ever been in a room full of people and pretended to be yawning?\u00a0 Do you know what happens?\u00a0 Others start yawning themselves.\u00a0 Perhaps you could say that you \u201csalted\u201d the yawn reflex.<\/p>\n

The second word picture is encouraging reluctant youngsters to eat by eating with great relish ourselves.\u00a0 \u201cHmmmm!\u00a0 That is so good!\u00a0 I\u2019m going to eat some more! Do you want to try some too?\u201d\u00a0 I want to tell you it works better than saying, \u201cEat your veggies!\u00a0 There are starving children in the world who would love them!\u201d\u00a0 Our kids used to reply, \u201cPlease send my veggies to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s Scripture, Jesus says that we are to have salt in us.\u00a0 I take that to mean that we are to be so full of Him that we are salt to those around us.\u00a0 In Colossians 4:6, Paul admonishes: \u201cLet your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

There is no way we can live indifferent Christian lives and be salt and light to those around us.\u00a0 If we do that, we have lost our saltiness and no longer possess the appeal that will draw others to walk close to Christ.<\/p>\n

Are you salting the oats of those you come in contact with?\u00a0 Are you creating such a desire that people must drink from God\u2019s well that never will run dry?\u00a0 Spend time in God\u2019s Word<\/em> and see the thrill that will make you want more and more of Him.<\/p>\n

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!<\/p>\n

– – – Pastor Cecil<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark 9:50 Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?\u00a0 Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other. There is a wonderful illustration that goes something like this: \u201cWhile it is true that you can lead a horse to water, you can\u2019t make him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyevotional.com\/prior2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}