This morning I’ve been thinking a lot about sea salt. It sounds strange to say that, since I can’t say that I normally spend time thinking on such a subject, but when I asked Jesus what he wanted to talk about in this space today, those are the two words that kept coming out of his mouth. 

Sea salt. 

Every time he said those words, I thought of two related passages in Scripture. First, there is the excerpt in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus talks about our lives being salty: 

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth.”

— Matthew 5:13

And then there is the passage where Peter gets out of the boat on a dark night and walks on water to meet Jesus in the ocean: 

“Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, ‘Master, save me!’ Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, ‘Faint-heart, what got into you?’”

— Matthew 14:30-31

As I got to thinking more about sea salt this morning — and doing a little research! — I learned that it’s the salt in the ocean water that gives us our buoyancy when swimming or floating. Anything floating in saltwater is being held up by the density of salt inside that water. 

I think what Jesus wants to tell you this morning is that he is the source of saltiness inside you. He’s also what holds you up in ocean waters, when otherwise you would sink.

Consider these words Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians: 

“Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you… We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives.”

— 2 Corinthians 4:5, 7

If we didn’t have Jesus, we would be ordinary clay pots — nothing special to look at, with no power of our own in this world. We would be, in the eyes of this world, simply ordinary. But with Jesus inside of us, we become salt. We carry flavor that isn’t run of the mill. And when immersed in deep and choppy waters, he, as the salt, holds us up. 

Perhaps today you feel the pressure to be more than ordinary. Perhaps you feel like you are drowning. In truth, all you need to cling to is Jesus. It is Jesus who holds you up. It is Jesus who makes you extraordinary.

Will you let him carry you today? Will you hold his flavor on your lips?