// DAY TWO //
ZESTFUL
Zestful things are full of brilliant, potent flavor. Zest has a nice, spirited essence about it.
Scripture: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” - Colossians 4:6
Reading: What kind of spice do you want to be in the world for God? The garlic? The rosemary? The onion powder? The pepper? Some may say zesty spices are mostly the tangy, tingly and desirable flavors in the dish.
What do you think?
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus taught the crowd and his disciples. He poured out blessing after blessing from his lips on the ones that were poor in spirit, the mournful, the meek, the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. Jesus encouraged the people that these types of people have great reward in heaven – so be glad and rejoice!
“But… why? Those types of people seem like they don’t add anything to the world!” You might can imagine them saying...
Then, Jesus, like he always does, says something profound. He says, “YOU are the salt of the earth.”
When we cook with salt, usually, the salt dissolves into pot with the food. Unless you add when you’re at the table, it goes unnoticed. Salt pulls out the flavor in the food like no other spice. Bland foods are made tasty again with salt – and a little goes a long way. Most of the time, only a cook knows the power of salt!
Unless taught, kids don’t understand salt - just like much of the world in a spiritual sense!
Much of the salt in you goes unnoticed in the world, and in turn, you are rarely thanked for it. What a shame! It is the current world we live in. Jesus is saying here in the sermon on the mount that God looks down with his microscope and sees the salt in this melting pot on the earth. He is the master chef adding salt where the food is ordinary.
He sees how people in the Spirit are adding flavor to the world – in ways the average person has no understanding. People living in the kingdom of the world are far from thanking the salt or the chef!
Thank you, Jesus for your kind words in the sermon on the mount – for that reassurance that we will be rewarded one day for being salt and light.
Guys, don’t not lose your flavor, and don’t lose hope! See the blessings in Jesus words. In the Full Count community, we need you to be salt – in a way that is upside-down in the world we live in. You will be unnoticed many, many, many days if you live in the way Jesus calls us.
Yes, some days we may get to be the garnish in the dish, or the pepper, or rosemary. God is asking most of us to be the salt – and that is a great place to be.
Out of all the spices on the rack, gravitate toward being the salt, the humblest and most zestful spice of the church’s main dish.
Prayer Prompts:
Thanks – Father, thank you for the flavor of the gospel made possible through your Son Jesus Christ. Wow, it is so good, and it fills up my spirit! There is nothing like it in the whole world! The grace, mercy, and love through the cross of Christ penetrates the souls of so many – making us fall in love with you again and again, day after day, when we think about it. Thank you, Jesus, for your example of being salt in a tasteless world when you took on flesh like us. You made everything so much better when you chose to love us in a way we could understand – when you walked this earth with us. Thank you, Lord!
Confession – My pallet oftentimes desires food not good for me. In turn, I reflect the world instead of reflecting you. Then, I lose my saltiness without your Holy Spirit working in my heart. I so desire to seek the approval of others, seek the thrill of the world, seek temporary pleasure, instead of seeking to please you.
Ask – Lord, restore my zestful flavor! Make me salt in this world! Work through me and Full Count Ministries so that others would taste the substance of the gospel so that they would be filled and overflow into more and more baseball players all over the globe. Lord, use me however you see fit in your recipe.
Reflection Questions:
1) Who in your life can you say is salt in the world for Jesus? What are some of the things that they do?
2) This year, do you think you have been salt in the world despite the apparent difficulties?
3) What are some different and tangible ways we can be salt in the baseball community specifically?
4) How was Jesus salt in the world? What did he do?
5) Think again about the beatitudes. What are some of the ones you encapsulate more in your life and what are some of the ones you think you could work on?