Once I cooked a green Thai curry for my housemates. Never again!
All was going well…until it came to adding the salt. I reached for the sprinkler and held it over the pan, intending to sprinkle in just enough to add some more-ish flavour.
Well, that didn’t go to plan. Whoever had used the sprinkler before me hadn’t screwed the lid back on properly – (why was the lid even off? WHY??) – so cue disaster! Half the salt (along with the lid) ended up in my curry which, until then, had been looking beautiful.
Oh, did I mention that one of my housemates was an ex-chef? So no pressure there whatsoever.
Not to be put off, I bravely served the curry for dinner anyway. My friends ate about five spoonfuls each, then put their forks down in disgust. We drank a LOT of water that night!
So I can safely say that salt has made a big impression on me. It actually plays a big part in our everyday lives, even if we don’t really think about it. We have five basic tastes – sour and bitter are (usually!) the bleurghh ones, whilst salty, sweet and umami (awesome word) are the yummy ones.
As well as tasting good – in small doses anyway – salt is essential for animal life and super important as a food preservative. It can even corrode rust like a crumbling biscuit. We just can’t do without it.
Jesus put a lot of value on salt. He told His disciples that: “You are the salt of the earth”. And that wasn’t just true for those disciples back then, it’s also true for YOU today.
You are YOU-nique. Your essence and spirit are like none other that God has ever created. Your God-given self is essential for those whom God has placed around you.
You have the power to corrode the rust of injustice, anger and hatred. You have the power to draw out the best in people and preserve what’s good about them!
Don’t believe me?
I know that sometimes you feel like you don’t have anything to contribute. Tragically, you may even feel that you’re a mistake. If you feel like this then trust me…you have been lied to. Zephaniah 3:17 says that He takes “great delight” in you.
Start taking “great delight” in how God sees you. Tap into your deepest, quirkiest, most alternate essence. And trust that no matter what, God created you YOU-nique.
