How do you take care of a cast iron skillet??? If you own one you should know to keep it seasoned and rust free otherwise it will dry out, crack, and eventually break.
One time my husband, God bless him, was unaware of the care and condition in which you're supposed to keep a cast iron skillet. I had made something greasy in it one day and set it aside to cool, leaving it, and my husband, unsupervised. When I returned to properly clean it I saw my husband had already scrubbed it *cringe* and stacked it with other wet dishes in the side drain *double cringe*.
Confirming he had placed the HOT cast-iron under COLD running water (pretty sure my ancestors gasped) and used dish soap and an s.o.s. pad to clean it, then left it to air dry. At that point I'm pretty sure I yelled an expletive (or three) as I grabbed some cooking oil and a paper towel to salvage my cast iron skillet while the oven preheated. If you know, you know. If you don't...bless your heart, let me explain.
Cast iron is a metal that is made by melting iron ore in a blast furnace (really really hot, really really fast). The liquid iron is 'cast' (poured) and hardened into molds (called pigs no less) and remelted, sometimes more than once, with other metals then recast into molds for whatever product is to be made with it...such as my skillet.
Here's the kicker though, that cast iron skillet you have to use two hands to pick up (and I'm sure thought about using as a weapon of opportunity on your husband who basically put it in the dishwasher to die), is still very fragile. In order to keep it for a very long time don't soak it, don't drop it, don't let it rust, keep it seasoned, and if you have to wash it use warm water and a brush with coarse salt and oil. Rinse, repeat, dry it good, wipe it down with oil (all over like the tiger lady used sardine oil on her ex-husband), then put it in a cold oven and heat to 250* for about an hour.
Over time it will show some wear and tear, pitting is common. If it goes unused and is left in a cabinet for too long you may have to give it a salt bath and season it again, but it's sure to last a lifetime when properly cared for.
Here's the lesson. Like my cast iron skillet, my faith needs to be seasoned. Things happen in our lives that will test the strength of our faith, and the process to keep it from 'rusting' is daunting if you let it go for too long.
Salt is referenced in the Bible numerous times as being used to enhance flavor (a seasoning) as well as preserve food. To 'be salt' (or seasoned) means to deliberately seek to influence the people in one's life by showing them the unconditional love of Christ through good deeds.
Matthew 5: 13-16 states, "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost it's taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on it's stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
In layman terms, stay salty and lit, and your faith will endure like a well seasoned cast iron skillet.
