Make them want a second helping

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Colossians 4:6 ESV

In an article titled, “Adding Table Salt to Food May Lead to Shorter Life Expectancy, Study Shows,” the following was reported: A new study found that adding salt to a meal after it was already prepared decreased life expectancy in women by 1.5 years and by 2.28 years in men. The study, published in the European Heart Journal, looked at UK Biobank data from 501,379 participants who completed a questionnaire on the frequency of adding salt to foods on average. Researchers also collected urine samples to further examine the effects sodium has on the body. Ultimately, the findings suggest that adding salt to prepared foods more frequently is associated with early death (higher hazard of all-cause premature mortality and lower life expectancy). The takeaway? The next time you find yourself at the dinner table, you might want to think twice before reaching for the salt shaker… the next time you head to the grocery store, take another look at the sodium content before you buy. And try skimping on the salt when it actually comes time to season your meal.

And you know, when it comes to correctly scattering salt, Paul admonished us to be gracious in our speech and to consider on an individual basis how much salt to season our answers with, depending on what would make "each person" want to hear more. You see, just how salt when administered in the right amount will make a dish it's most palatable and thus cause it to be consumed more readily and even cause a person to come back for a second helping, our speech should be so flavorful, but not overly so, that it encourages the listener to eagerly ingest what’s being said and crave more. Think about it this way… too much salt applied to a dish will leave a bitter taste in someone’s mouth but applying too little of it will leave the dish tasteless. Either way you can be sure the person won’t come back for a second helping if it's not seasoned perfectly.  

So season your speech wisely my friend. Share Jesus in such a way that it is specific to "each person."  This is done by carefully and prayerfully considering how “each person” needs to hear Truth and speaking those gracious words accordingly--something that will not only incline their ears to listen but will have them coming back for a second helping. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding that we are to never change the Gospel only our approach in which we share it. Give us the discernment to speak wisely Lord and to season our words in such a way that people would want a second helping.  It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!