Monday, February 1, 2010

Salt in the wound

Okay, I was bleeding. It didn't really hurt, but somehow in the process of moving some debris from the area I cut my finger and made quite a mess. After checking it out, I realized it wasn't that serious, put a band-aid on it and went about my merry way. That is until later when I was working with some salt and it got on the wound. OUCH! I didn't think I could rinse it off fast enough!

The sting didn't last that long, but as I washed off the cut, the thought came to me "pouring salt in the wound". In the way my random thoughts run, I immediately thought of how we are called to be the salt of the earth and well, all that got me curious. I always thought salt in the wound was bad, but we're to be salt to a wounded world and well, those two things just didn't seem to go together.

I did what any red blooded, (wounded), woman would do. I googled it...I went right to my computer and looked up salt and wounds. That's when I discovered something pretty interesting. While salt may sting initially, it is one of the best antiseptics that can be used to help wounds heal naturally. Some doctors even recommend the use of a saline solution (salt and water) to clean some wounds instead of hydrogen peroxide! It seems that it doesn't damage the healthy cells like other things do and actually helps the body begin to heal itself.

Of course, there is a spiritual random thought in here. If we are to be the salt to the world, and we learn to use the water of the Word, then we can help bring healing to those around us! Let that "soak in" (pardon the pun) for a minute. Part of our job as "salt" is to be a healing agent to those around us. Pretty cool, huh.

Now, don't expect the wounded to get excited about this salt. I can tell you from experience, salt stings at first! I guess it's at work driving out all the bad stuff from the wound. That doesn't mean the salt shouldn't be there doing what it does, it just means it might not always get a welcoming committee when it arrives. Actually, the salt really doesn't have to "do" anything. The presence of it is enough....if it is salty. I guess that's the tough part - staying salty. But it's something we really need to do, cause in case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of wounded people out there.

I wasn't thrilled when that salt hit my cut, but I've noticed that since it did - the cut seems to be getting better. It's not nearly as tender as before. I can still see it, but it doesn't hurt to touch it anymore. That sounds like healing to me. Makes me wonder if I'm "salty" enough to help bring healing to those I come in contact with each day....and do I have enough water of the Word to make a difference.

Mark 9:50
"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."


Colossians 4:6
"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow!! I never thought of it that way. To be honest I'm just really learning more and more about how to be a good Christian. I've still got old wounds that need to be healed myself so it gets kind of difficult to "salt someone else's wounds" when you still need healing.

Donna said...

We are all in the healing process...but sometimes it helps when we reach out to "be the salt" that someone else needs. Thank heavens God hasn't called us to be saved alone! We're all on this journey together!