They were forced to spend most of the winter there distilling salt from the ocean so they could make it back home. Salt is vital to life. We can't live without Salt. Our body has about eight ounces of salt in it. Enough for a big salt shaker.
Salt regulates the water in our cells, it aids muscle contraction, nerve impulses, and heartbeats.
Without vital salt, we would go into convulsions and die. Christians are vital to this world. You are vital to somebody's life. It purifies Elisha was shown a spring that put out bad water. The water was poisonous.