Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. Leviticus 2:13 (NIV)

I love salt! When I was a child I remember pouring some into my hand and eating it! Our body needs salt, probably not a fist full, but God created us to require salt. It not only magnifies the taste of our fries, it has over 14,000 uses!

As we prepare to celebrate our Savior’s birth, let’s zoom in on the scene. The shepherds around Bethlehem were given the task of raising sheep worthy to be sacrificed in the Temple.  Lambs were born in caves and immediately swabbed with a salt solution to kill bacteria.  They were then wrapped in linen cloths so they would not be harmed by the jagged rock while learning to walk.  

When we think of the birth of Jesus we often picture a wooden stable, yet in Bethlehem, caves were the place to keep animals.  Let your mind see Mary and Joseph in the cave, swabbing their precious newborn with a salt solution to protect Him from bacteria.  Now, they wrap Him in swaddling cloth and lay Him in a manger.

The shepherds knew instantly the significance of the angel’s message in Luke 2:12, “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (NIV)

This was a precious sign to them indeed!  The angel was speaking their language.  Guess what, God is speaking our language too.  He wants us to understand that Jesus was our perfect sacrifice.  No blemish.  No flaws.  Yet, there’s another application for salt.  

2 Chronicles 13:5 says, “Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” (NIV)

God made a forever promise that includes you and me!  He was saying, ‘There is salt between us,’ meaning a bond that is unbreakable.  The Almighty God used salt as a guarantee of friendship and loyalty.  

As we ponder this season, allow the reality of the salt to magnify your love for our Heavenly Father.

Read Luke 2 from a new perspective.  Look up all the references in the Bible to salt, and be amazed.

Dear Lord, You amaze and astound us every time we dig into Your Word.  Father, may we never look at salt again without thinking of You.  Season us to magnify Your name.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.