Mark 9:49-50 “Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."
What is this connection between salt and fire? How can fire touch our lives and become like salt to us? By the way… what is this fire that Jesus is talking about? Let’s answer scripture questions with other scriptures. In I Peter 4:12 Peter wrote “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” KJV From this it is clear that the fires that will salt our lives are these fiery trials which try us. Peter clearly confirms the reality that these fires will touch each one of us and are a common part of the Christian life. He speaks with such certainty that he says “think it not strange” that these trials are a part of your life! Don’t question them. Don’t fear them. They are normal. They bear fruit in our lives.
So how can a fiery trial become a fruitful part of our life? Wouldn’t it seem logical that these things should be avoided and disdained? Not according to Paul! In 1 Cor 3:11-13 Paul develops our understanding of the purpose of trials: “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.” The trials that touch us test the quality of the life we are building for God! When pressures and trials come we have an opportunity to discover whether the life of God within us is maturing or stagnant. We are allowed to see a momentary glimpse of what Jesus sees about us all of the time! The revelation is not for God’s insight but rather for our own lives and the lives of those who are watching us. Trials remove pretense and façade. As Paul said, trials cause our life in God to be “shown for what it is!”
In Mark 9:49-50 Jesus relates these fires to the work of salting something. Salt has two primary functions. Salt preserves and salt flavors! When Jesus presents this concept of salting our lives with fire He is preparing each heart to embrace trials as a gift from God not to complain against them. As Peter exhorts the church to embrace the trials of life as an expected part of our training and preparation he presents a one word response that confronts every spirit of complaint and every temptation to make excuses for a sinful heart in the midst of suffering. The one word foundation for responding to trials is simple: “Rejoice!” Let the fires of this life do their work and rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ’s glory.
Continuing with this thought Jesus says “salt is good!” Can you say that with me? “Salt is good!” But there is still another caution from Jesus. Salt can lose its saltiness and then it is of no value. The point is this: do not let the trials that you go through amount to nothing because you lose the lessons learned in the fire!
To conclude this Jesus once again says something thought provoking: “have salt in yourselves and be at peace with each other.” Once your life has been salted the salt is now a part of you. It is in you. It can be nurtured and cultivated to stay a living part of your life in God. Do not allow the lessons to fade so that you must learn them over and over again. In so doing the fruit of the lessons learned in the fire will be peace in your relationships. When our hearts have learned through suffering the trivial things that tend to stumble us lose their power to influence our hearts. The brighter the fires you have triumphed over, the greater the peace in the trials that follow!
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