Good morning friends. Remind yourself every day that you are here on earth for a reason. You have talents and qualities that can bring goodness to others. A kind smile, a good word, a loving gesture – simple things that can change people.
I hear God saying seasoned this morning. As I meditate on His word, I ask God what do you mean seasoned? As I continue to do personal development to grow as a leader in my business, I always try to make sure that I keep God in any and everything that I do? My main reason for this is one because I know that I can do nothing without Him. Two, I know that He helps to keep me grounded. But, as I prayed the word seasoned just continued to stand out.
When you think of the word seasoned most people would contribute it to food or prepping. meaning to ripen, to give food more flavor or zest by adding seasoning or savory ingredients, to give a distinctive quality to, to treat as wood or a skillet so as to prepare for use, to make fit by experience. But God’s word tells about being seasoned. And to that it means being spiritually mature is being properly seasoned. So I looked up what the process was to season wood and this is what it said, “Wood that has been dried while retaining various oils and resins. These oils and resins undergo a chemical transformation where they harden the wood fibers, producing a stronger piece of wood. After a chemical transformation within the wood, it is still wood. IT LOOKS THE SAME AS IT DID BEFORE THE PROCESS BEGAN; HOWEVER, ON THE INSIDE IT HAS UNDERGONE A GREAT CHANGE.” The emphasis on the last sentence was intentional. Seasoning-stay with me.
Then there is what is called seasoning cast iron. Now most of us cast iron skillet users know that in order to keep it from rusting you have to season it. Cast Iron Cookware must be seasoned properly and it will last a lifetime. To season a new cast iron pan this what you need to do:
Heat the oven to 250 – 300 degrees.
Coat the pan with lard or bacon grease. Don’t use a liquid vegetable oil because it will leave a sticky surface and the pan will not be properly seasoned?
Put the pan in the oven. In 15 minutes, remove the pan & pour out any excess grease. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 2 hours.
Repeating this process several times is recommended, as it will help create a stronger “seasoning” bond. If the pan was not seasoned properly or a portion of the seasoning wore off and food sticks to the surface or there is rust, then it should be properly cleaned and re-seasoned.
When I think about the seasoning process I think about Malachi 3:3 “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” A refiner of silver or gold is called a silversmith or goldsmith and the process of refining the gold or silver is a process that when looked at spiritually you see and understand the mighty hand of God.
In refining silver or gold, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. God is holding us in the middle of the hot spots in life to season us. The whole time the silver or gold is in the fire the refiner has to sit in front of the fire the whole time the silver or gold is being refined. The refiner, not only has to sit there holding the silver, but he has to keep his eyes on the silver or gold the entire time it’s in the fire. If the silver or gold were left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. No matter how long it seems you have been in the fire, God knows and will not leave you in there too long. He is refining and seasoning you.
God will send us through the seasoning and refining fires until he is able to see His image in us. Repeating this process several times is recommended, as it will help create a stronger “seasoning” bond. The trials, tribulations, storms, and hard times in your life are just part of the seasoning process. We have looked at the process of seasoning, but the question now is, “What are you seasoned with?” We are to be seasoned with salt. The word salt is mentioned 37 times in the Bible. Matthew 5:13 says “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Salt changes everything it comes in contact with, but the salt itself remains unchanged. If salt loses it savour it is good for nothing but to be cast out, and trodden under foot of men. We are the salt of the earth, we are to change everything that we come in contact with, and it’s not to change us. Salt was a spice that was added to a sacrifice that made it something special, it gave it a sweet smelling savour. Savour is the taste or smell of something, a particular flavor or smell or a distinctive quality. We as children of God should have a distinctive quality about us that is the meaning of a peculiar people.
In the natural there are many different types of salt, there are onion-salt, garlic-salt and many others. The wrong kind of salt in something will destroy the taste of that thing all-together. Remember salt is a spice, the wrong spice has the opposite effect on food. We must know what type of salt to add in order to be a sweet smelling savour in our sacrifice to God.
A seasoned Christian has these attributes: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, hope, faithfulness, prayer, witnessing, and stewardship. As a seasoned child of God we are commanded to witness to the world. In doing so our speech must always be seasoned. This is a great attribute to have even when dealing in business. Consistency of life must be followed by consistency of speech. Meaning, in our general conversation, we should always remember this, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.” Colossians 4:6. What are you seasoned with…..don’t lose your savour! Don’t-LOOK THE SAME AS YOU DID BEFORE THE PROCESS BEGAN; HOWEVER, LET THE INSIDE SHOW IT HAS UNDERGONE A GREAT CHANGE.”
Live life, give people hope, share your heart, wisdom, and resources. Never place a period where God says there should be a comma.
As always peace and blessings, be safe. Remember God loves you and so do I. ©crew 6.3.16
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