At Cherry Tree Court this morning, Stephen reminded us that things can remind us of Christian truths. Johnny Cash famously sang about a ‘deck of cards’ which reminded him of gospel truths. Today’s ‘reminder’, however, came in the shape of a packet of crisps…
To Stephen, the crisps are a symbol of people (all different sizes and shapes!), but his real message was about the blue packet of salt contained in these crisps. The small amount of salt flavours all the crisps in the packet, reminding us of:
1. God’s power (just as the salt changes the flavour of the crisps, so God’s power changes us dramatically)
2. God’s judgment (Gen 19:26 reminds us of Lot’s wife who was turned into a pillar of salt because she disobeyed His command and looked back. We need to obey God if we are to avoid His judgment)
3. God’s covenant (Num 18:19 reminds us that God made a covenant of salt with people. God’s permanent presence and provision is with us.)
4. God’s preservation (Matt 5:13 reminds us that we are the salt of the earth and are all important to God. Our actions and decisions make a difference to the world around us, keeping Christ at the forefront of our lives and of society.)
5. God’s guidance (Our conversation should be full of grace, seasoned with salt, Paul says in Col 4:6, and in this way we can give an answer to everyone, God guiding our responses and conversations.)
6. God’s peace (Mk 9:50 reminds us that being salty helps us to live at peace with each other, because Jesus is our peace.)
The only thing that is left for us to do is to taste and see that the Lord is good… or at the very least, to enjoy the crisps!