Salt and Posture

"Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:50 ESV

This weekend when we were meeting with the men P Butch Veader brought up the idea of posture and it intrigued me. I have been working on mine the last year or so. Technology like phones and computers tend to erode this. We bend over to look at things. Keeping our back straight (chin up, shoulders back and chest out) is important on several levels. As men we are stronger and look stronger. We can stay healthier with a straight strong back and core. Our circulation is better. Other men who go by appearances will be more likely to listen to a man who looks strong then one who looks lazy and weak. That is how the world is.

The concept of righteousness in the Hebrew involves the ability to look someone in the face. Posture is involved in that.

Good posture takes effort. As we get older it can take more effort. Our shoulders need a degree of tension... not much... but some tension in a continuous way and once good posture is achieved it can be maintained with less effort but if we relax too much for too long it will be lost.

The end of Mark chapter nine throws a few concepts at us about restraint and this idea of saltiness...

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire... And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell... And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,... For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:42-43, 45, 47, 49-50 ESV

Salt was added to certain offerings in the Hebrew scriptures. It is a needed ingredient. What will i say? What will i do? Can i endure for someone else's sake or do i have to run my mouth and get relief? Will i be a man who pulls his shoulders back and stands upright or a weak minded person who slouches and does not have strength in situations? Will i react or respond with proven gracious principles?

If we wait until the situation happens to prepare we may well be unprepared and the 'little ones' that need to see someone who has fortitude won't be covered and protected.

Salty people can be at peace with one another. I know a few men who have been salted with fire. They have endured hardship. They have had the fires of difficulty and they have also had the fire of the Holy Spirit function in their lives and they are not tasteless. They have depth.

Everyone reading this can be a person of substance. It isn't going to come by effort. Uprightness is a gift from God. God gives us the posture of His Son. That is mystical and amazing to think about. Taking time with Him and hearing His word makes us want to to put our shoulders back and walk looking God in the face. Grace works in us and our thinking and emotions become 'straight' again.

God gives and we receive. We see Him and we become like Him in transformation. Then we walk that way.

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