The Cost of Salt

“Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or the manure pile; they throw it out. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen.” (Luke 14:34-35)

Jesus spoke the words above in the context of discipleship. He began this discussion by talking about the cost of being a disciple. Large crowds were following Him at that point, so He knew it was important that they also understand the cost. Essentially, He told them that to be His disciple, their discipleship would have to be their top life priority, even over their families, their own lives, and even over their possessions. He charged them to count the cost, and in trying to help them understand the importance He used three metaphors: a man building a house, a king going to war, and salt losing its taste.

The first two metaphors dealt with calculating the cost of following Him. The third metaphor was more of a warning about the results of not counting the cost and later deciding to give up on discipleship.

The idea of the third metaphor is that if someone decides to be His disciple (salt) and then quits being His disciple (loses its taste), he would then be worthless ultimately (of no use to the soil or even the manure pile, but just thrown away, wasted).

The meaning is pointedly clear: there is always a cost for following Jesus. We need recognize this up front, and we need to be able to commit to the cost at all costs.

Lord, Strengthen us as we follow You, that our hearts may also be true to You. Amen.