Sharing a Taste of Heaven
“A cat and a mouse died on the same day and went up to Heaven. At the top they met God and He asked them ‘How do you like it so far?’ The mouse replied ‘It’s great, but can I get a pair of roller skates?’ God said ‘Sure’, and He gave him a pair of roller skates. The next day God saw the cat and asked him, ‘How do you like it up here so far?’ and the cat replied ‘Great, I didn’t know you had meals on wheels up here!’”
Like the cat many of us may be concerned even in Heaven about eating, but the food there is for the soul.
In columns past I have written about the power of salt. Throughout history this chemical made of sodium and chloride has been exceptionally important for thousands of years. Salt’s ability to preserve food was a foundation of our civilization. Today, salt is almost universally accessible, relatively cheap and often iodized to prevent mental retardation.
In the Old Testament the Israelites where instructed to “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,” In the New Testament, our saltiness was never to be left out if we are to be at peace with one another. But what, you might ask, does salt have to do with a taste of Heaven. Why does Jesus say at the end of the Beatitudes, “You are the salt of the earth?”
As we go through our everyday lives as Christians, we all look forward to Heaven when we die. Many of us would like a taste of it now. But what is paradise? Is it a land flowing with milk and honey and streets paved in gold? What good are milk, honey and gold in Heaven? Why is salt a metaphor for life in the world to come? Here is the problem. Many of us spend much of our time here on earth seeking after things that will not count in the end. The only way to avoid that is by becoming the essence of life on earth. There are two ways to become the spirit of creation. First by the utilization of the power of prayer for ourselves and for the world. Never has there been a greater need for the petitioning God to strengthen our life and the world He created. It should be clear to us by now that in this world “Murphy’s Law” is always in play. Murphy’s Law says, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Look at what happened with Obamacare. Years later and many Americans still do not have insurance coverage. But the best insurance is to know and serve God. This is where prayer comes in. Our system of government needs prayer but our focus must remain on salvation for us as
Christians, we truly are the salt of Earth and Heaven.
