TOO MUCH SALT!
Medically speaking salt is very necessary for our bodies. When we lose salt we become dehydrated. When my son Dan was a baby he had a fever. The Doctor was very concerned about him becoming dehydrated which would mean hospitalizing him. He gave me some directions to follow so that would not happen. I gave him water enemas three times a day until the fever broke.

Salt tablets are given to those who work in the hot sun and a saline solution in an IV is used in hospitals to keep the workers and/or patients from becoming dehydrated. Salt is an important nutrient for our bodies. I believe that salt is necessary for our bodies to stay alive.

Not only are we affected by salt but the animals also need this to stay well and healthy. The farmers and ranchers have salt licks and salt blocks available for their animals, even the ones that are out on the range. I have seen deer using these, so obviously this need for salt is built in.

The Dictionary says salt is a sodium chloride. It is used for seasoning and preserving. It is used in curing meats by covering it with salt which will preserve it for later use. Many years ago my brothers use to go deep sea fishing. Many times Mom would salt the fish and freeze it. I remember using some of the barracuda that had been in the freezer for several years. The salt had softened but preserved it and so I made fish balls and deep fried it for a Luau. Those who ate them seemed to like them. There were no left overs and no one got sick afterwards.

One of the cooking shows on TV says; "Do not salt the foods you are cooking at the beginning because it will cause too much liquid. Salt your food just before you finish cooking".
I must learn to remember this, because I have always seasoned at the beginning.

So what happens when you have too much salt in your body? Some of us have been told we have high blood pressure or we are retaining liquids along with various other chronic diseases.
We are given medicines which bring the blood pressure down by reducing the liquid around our hearts and medicines to expel the excess liquids. Then we are told to watch our salt intake!

There is a puzzling scripture in Judges 9:45; "And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He took the city and killed the people that were in it and he razed the city and sowed it with salt". I am not a gardener by any means, but I can reason and I don’t find it reasonable to put a lot of salt on the ground to be a good thing. Abimelech used the salt to sterilize the ground so that it couldn’t be productive again. In this verse we find that using a lot of salt can cause the ground to become toxic. Too much salt in our bodies can be toxic!

Saltmaking is not an unhealthy trade, except for a slight soreness of the eyes. Actually the atmosphere of salty steam acts as a preservative against colds, rheumatism and neuralgias. "Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another" Mark 9:50. Looking at this verse again, what do you suppose Jesus means when He says; "If salt becomes unsalty, how do you make it salty again?" Jesus is saying that we should always have salt in ourselves. We can do that by being at peace with one another. As Christian’s we must refrain from losing our saltiness and that is through repentance.
Jane Ann