Seasoned!

Seasoned!

Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:6 KJV

I am asked to let my speech be ALWAYS full of grace. What is speech, if not an outflow of what I have spent time investing in? My life cannot bear fruit that is contrary to my investment of time, opportunities and resources. No matter how hard I try, I cannot deny the evidence of the fruit that flows out of the seeds I have planted over time.

And why shouldn't it be SPEECH, which is the proof to outsiders of my relationship with God? When a man walks with God, the greatest testament in support of that walk is seen in speech and conversation. Even the bible says a fool is thought to be wise as long as s/he doesn't open his/her mouth, but how does God get known if my life doesn't speak of or testify about Him? 

And it doesn't always have to be physical words; every day, through my interactions, my conduct, the friends I keep, my pursuits and priorities, I am actually passing a message across to all who know and see me. Pray, as men watch me, what is my life preaching and saying? 

And I also wonder why it is grace that should be the content of my speech. What is this grace: it is that undeserved mercy from God; the forgiveness available to us, not because we earned or worked hard for it, but because God, in mercy, extended it to us. 

He didn't wait for us to be perfect before He gave it, but He gave it anyway, so we could know of his love and then choose Him of our own free will. That is the summary of God's grace, and is the expression that my life must flow out with to other people. If I have received it, it is easy to give it. If I don't have it, I cannot fake it. You cannot give what you don't have. 

And the power of seasoning is seen in the use of salt here, as well as in physical food. Nobody adds the same measure of salt as the food to be cooked; there must be a commensurate measure of salt, because just a little salt works through the entire batch of food to make it pleasant to the taste. Men may admire the physical beauty, but would they remain when they taste of my words? Am I sweet savour, rightly seasoned with the right amount of salt, or am I bitter and sour, difficult to relate with? It is not in quantity, but in quality and depth. It is not in the amount of words I speak, but in the value of the words. Do my words flow out of a heart that God has worked on, or a heart that is still bitter, hurt and under the influence of the devil? It matters who is in control in there. 

And it also matters when the salt is applied. Nobody adds salt after the food is cooked, otherwise, it won't work as well as it should. That is the basis of the latter part of today's extract: knowing HOW. There is a big difference between WHAT and HOW ye ought to answer every man. The HOW is quite important; it is not everytime that I must have an answer to every question. Sometimes, silence is the best answer, and sometimes, the right word is the tonic or encouragement that someone else needs to create the right environment for success. I have to learn the importance of knowing the WHEN, HOW and WHAT to speak, so that God can be glorified in and through me.  I can say sorry to you in one way, and you will know instantly that I am insincere. I can say the same sorry to another person, and the person knows I really mean it. That means it is not the words that are important, but how they are said and the heart from which they proceed. Man does not see the heart, but God does, and He is the One we all would have to deal with, if we will make it to heaven at the end of our earthly lives. 

Oh, and it applies differently from man to man. I am not sent at all times to all men in all places on earth. I am not God and cannot play God in the lives of every man. I must be content to keep working in the space I have been planted. For all who will trust God to help them, God's grace is available. And it matters that the message behind my speech is consistent, otherwise, the message is lost or diluted. It cannot be an off and on switch, where I get to decide what I want to be anytime I want. It doesn't work like that. 

I ask God for help to make my life the type that will speak for Him at all times, even when there are no actual words spoken. I clearly understand that I am planted where I am to glorify God and point men back to Him, so if I am not doing exactly that, then maybe I am not where I should be, or doing what I have been commissioned to do. The danger of not getting it right by God's standard is better imagined than experienced. For the sake of eternity, I need to sort out my place in and impact on God's earth. His time of favour is here.