Luke 14:34-35 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his flavor, with which shall it be seasoned?… He that is ungodly would be ungodly still. And why? Because the salt has lost its savour. The mischief is not without — it is within. The wretched houses, the rent-books, the pawn-shops, are but symptoms — are but the efflorescence of a deep-seated disease — and if we are wise, we shall aim not at putting them to rights, except where grievous distress and impending ruin call for ready rescue; but we shall aim far deeper — we shall be ever musing on and seeking an answer to the question, "Wherewith shall it be seasoned?" And this is just the question which has been occupying so many Christian hearts, and employing so many Christian hands, now for some years in this our land. I called it the most fearful and difficult problem of our times; and every one who has fairly grappled with it will bear me in saying so. No special philanthropic agency will so much as touch the whole matter, however widely and efficiently supported. Each one of these, alone, is but opposing a feeble resistance for a time to the vast and gathering mass as it rolls and plunges downward. "Improve the dwellings of these poor people." Yes; of all mere remedial measures, doubtless this is the most obvious and lies nearest the surface. But how slow the progress; how distant and almost hopeless the result. Then again: "Improve their Sundays." By all means. The general observance of the Lord's day in our land is perhaps the most powerful instrument and the surest pledge for future good, which we possess. But again, How? For here once more we are beset with difficulties. You will be easily able to apply remarks of the same character to those various other agencies which are at work for this most salutary and beneficent purpose. (Dean Alford.) Parallel Verses KJV: Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?WEB: Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? |
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