30 Days of Prayer for the Harvest

Day 10 – Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Read Matthew 5:13-16.

Yesterday we began to look at Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

We said that salt both enhances flavor and has a purifying effect. The value of salt lies in its effect on its surroundings. Salt makes an impact. Jesus has made us to be “the salt of the earth.” This is a fairly simple concept for us to grasp.

The second half of the verse seems a bit more obscure to us. Jesus goes on to say, “But if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Can salt become less salty? Strictly speaking, no. Sodium chloride (NaCl) is a stable compound and can’t become less of itself.

But it can and does lose its “salty” impact—its “flavor”—when it becomes mixed with impurities that contaminate it. Then, it no longer has the effectiveness of salt. Much of the natural salt used by those in Israel was found around the Dead Sea. Some of the “salt” in that area is so mixed with other minerals and contaminants that it is little more than useless white powder. And what can you do with it? You really can’t ‘salt’ salt! You’d not only fail to ‘salt’ the bad salt, but you’d also end up contaminating the good salt.

To be effective as “the salt of the earth”, we must be “pure salt” – not mixed with the contaminants of this world. We must be distinct. So long as we are in Christ, we will never ‘not’ be salt. But we lose our effectiveness as salt when we become mixed up and contaminated with the sinful elements of this world. When we adopt the sinful habits of our culture we become indistinct from it and our influence is nullified. We have lost our savor and our effectiveness, and we no longer make the impact on this world that God has left us here to make.

Let me ask you: are you living a life that is distinct and separate from the sinful things of this world? Do you live a distinctive life in your home and with your neighbors? Are you the same at home as you seek to be perceived at church? When people put pressure on you in the workplace to compromise with respect to God’s holy standards for you and in your obedience and devotion to Christ, to you stand firm? Does your conversation with your friends reflect the speech of the Savior, or does it reflect the influence of the world? Are you distinct in what you watch and what you read? Have you lost your effectiveness as “salt” because you’ve tasted too much of the world’s “sugar”?

May God search our hearts and our lives, and show us where we are not pure before Him! And may we repent of the sin He reveals in our lives so that we may be useful to Him in this world.

Today’s Prayer

(This prayer is just a prompt. Pray your own prayer from your heart.)

Father, I believe that by faith in Christ You have made me to be the salt of the earth. What a privilege it is to know You and to have your Holy Spirit to fill me.

Lord, make me to be pure salt that does not lose its effectiveness. Cleanse me daily from impurity as I confess my sin to You. Refine me so that I will be pure and holy to be used by You in Your kingdom mission.

May I be the salt of the earth in many people’s lives this week, showing them Your love and grace and telling them Your truth.

Thank You for the joy of serving You. Thank You for the righteousness of Christ that You have imputed to me. Thank you for Your Spirit who indwells me. Make me more like Christ today so that others will see Jesus in Me and thirst for more of You.

Amen.