Are Things What They Seem?

           We visited a friend’s house on the East Coast who have a small river behind their home, even though they tease and say it’s no more than a stream.  The water is brown and dirty.  The thought of even jumping in for a swim repulses me!  

            Once while visiting a state out West when our children were young, we stopped at a river in the mountains and helped ourselves to the crystal clear, cool water. It was wonderful.  Was this wise?  At the time, thirty years ago, it seemed fine.  

            There are beautiful cool, clear waterways in the Great Smoky Mountains, and other areas of the country, as well.  They appear pure and clean, but with the air quality from pollutants of sulfate nitrate and mercury from power plants and other industrial sites, along with acid rain, it makes a body wonder.

            As Believers, we are able to have a relationship with our Creator.  Through this relationship we can see our lives changed from the desires of the world to the desires of Christ through a cleansing found no other way.  

            Our lives are easily made brown and murky from all the evils of the world. It might not seem like those little things of life could make much of a difference.  What would it matter if we gossiped a bit or drank a little?  What’s wrong with smoking a cigarette, or gambling some?  Who is really going to care if we use bad language or try drug use, just once? Surely it can’t matter.

            Yet, each of these behaviors inevitably evolve into another and then another.  The culmination of all of these or any combination of these, has the potential to muddy our lives to the point of despair.

It’s like the metals and chemicals that get dissolved into our waterways.  You can’t see them.  But the “poisons” being filtered or even “dumped” into the water, affects the fish and other aquatic species, as well as, the other animals who drink from the shore. As the animals become contaminated with the pollutants, it destroys their lives.  The fish and game hunted for humans to eat, are also tainted, even though, with the human eye, it may not be visible. 

But there is hope.  We have a forgiving Father and one who understands temptation. He has the ability to purify all that is murky in our lives and make it pristine clean.  He can turn all the passions we have for this world around, so we no longer desire them.  And He can change our desires so we want only to use our gifts and talents to further His Kingdom.

So I encourage you to reflect on those “harmless things of this world” and see if there is a desire greater than the desire you have for God.  When we give all that we are and all that we have to God first, our lives can be rich and pure.