Daily Devotional

When I was growing up we always had dinner together as a family. And because my Dad loved salt, there was always a salt shaker on the table. He’d salt his pizza and his French fries. He’d even salt his cantaloupe, tomatoes, and water melon. Well I don’t like salt. When I buy a big pretzel at the ball game, I ask for one without salt. When I get my fries at In-n-Out, I don’t ask for salt. In fact, the only reason why I would want to have salt on the dinner table is if we are having corn on the cob. Yet in Matthew 5:13 our Lord calls Christians to be the salt of the earth.
 
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
I heard a great acronym this week that has helped me remember that I am the salt of the earth. It has given me a way to share the gospel in a conversational way. And it uses the word SALT:

Start a conversation
Ask good questions
Listen to their story
Tell your testimony/the gospel

Start a conversation. How do you start a conversation with someone you just met? Notice things. Do they have a hat or shirt on with a sports insignia, their company, their college, or a vacation destination? Talk to them about it. If they’re tall, ask if they play basketball or volleyball. If they have a southern accent, ask if they’re from a southern state. Notice things.
Ask good questions. Get them talking about themselves. What they do for a living. Have they lived in California their entire life? You see their car and ask how they like that make and model. Ask them about church. Ask them about their family.

Listen to their story. Once they start talking, they may say something that reminds you of a great story from your life, and you will want to jump in and share it. Don’t. Just listen. Keep them talking, and pray silently for God to show you how to steer the conversation toward spiritual things. And whatever they share as their spiritual background, don’t gasp, or judge. Just listen.

Tell your testimony/the gospel. Ask if they’d mind if you shared something with them about you? If you’ve done a good job listening to their story, most people will say, “By all means, I’d love to hear something about you.” And at that point share your three-minute testimony. Tell them when you heard about Jesus Christ and what He did for you on the cross. When you invited Him into your life and asked Him to forgive you for your sins. And the difference He’s made in your life since.

We are called to share the gospel with people where we live, work, learn, and play. But how do we start? How about trying the ‘S.A.L.T. method’? Pray first. Then dive in. Trust God to use you.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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