Contamination of a Nation
“Salt Water Intrusion”
Scripture Reference: James 3:10-12 (KJV)
James 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
I would like to take this opportunity to talk about something that should be very near and dear to all of our hearts
WATER
I don’t just want to talk about water but I want to talk about the source in which we get our water and how detrimental it could be if that source were to become contaminated
For today I would like everyone to consider the source in which they draw water from as a fountain
When I say fountain I am not talking about the faucet at your home
No because that would be a personal problem and easy to fix but I am talking about a natural fountain that the whole community depends on for fresh drinking water.
I also want to take a second and take away the luxury of bottled water too
This way the only water that you have is from the community fountain so your life basically depends on this fountain
The next thing that I want to do is change your thought pattern concerning the word mouth
When I say mouth I am not talking about the part attached to your face because that too could be personal and you could easily win the fight to keep your big mouth shut.
I am talking about the mouth where a small stream contributes to a big body of water. In this case not only your community is in danger but there is a threat for a national disaster.
Since we are talking about water and the importance of it I would like to share a story with you.
While in Iraq we drank gallons upon gallons of bottled water, then one day I asked one of the cooks where does the water that they use in the Dining Facility (Chow Hall) come from. He explained that it came from the river down the road. I am sure that if some of the soldiers realized that we were drinking “creek water” they would probably change their diets to exclude anything that used this water in the chow hall. The truth is however that the water was delicious. It never made anyone sick that I know of and it was lightly filtered before we used it.
Also I noticed cows and every other thing using the same river that we drew water from. Anyone who has ever been in a desert climate and around animals at the same time should know how much they love to play and just hang out in the cool water. Even if you have never been to the desert and around animals at the same time you could probably imagine the enjoyment that the animals feel when they can escape the hundred and twenty degree heat.
It was truly an adventurous experience to find out where that water was coming from and to see it in it’s natural form before they pumped it. We also used this water to shower, shave, wash clothes, etc. It is amazing thinking about the sanitation standard that we had and we were probably in better health than most Americans drinking the finest of mineral and spring bottled waters. The moral to the story?
After considering all of the factors that went into this creek water I can certainly say that it is the salt that makes water undrinkable.
In our scripture passage for today it starts off by describing how blessings and curses can not flow out of the same mouth. We all know people like this. One minute they are blessing us and the next minute their mouth is completely foul and filled with curses. What if this were a mouth to a stream and could contaminate a whole nation with it’s filthy drainage. Something would definitely have to be done quick to stop that mouth from contaminating the complete water source and doing some serious damage to the entire nation.
The scripture goes ahead and ask the reader a question about the fountain. For my entire life I always considered this fountain to be in my home and all I had to do was shut it off and go to the store and get good water. But in this case it is not that easy to get good water.
See the fountain mentioned in this book is actually a public fountain where a whole community would draw their water so if it were to somehow get contaminated it would be much more serious than merely turning a knob shut and going to the closest store to get something better.
This could be the only water source for miles around and the importance of water to them then is just as important as it is to us now only they probably wasted a great deal less water because they realized the importance of it
After looking up the word sweet there were many possibilities of the noun form of this word that could fit in this passage but the one that stood out the most to me was; Having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub
The reason that I used this version of sweet was because of the word opposing it; bitter
Lets look at the word bitter;
Bitter - Bitterness is symbolical of affliction, misery, and servitude (Ex. 1:14; Ruth 1:20; Jer. 9:15). The Chaldeans are called the "bitter and hasty nation" (Hab. 1:6). The "gall of bitterness" expresses a state of great wickedness (Acts 8:23). A "root of bitterness" is a wicked person or a dangerous sin (Heb. 12:15).
The Passover was to be eaten with "bitter herbs" (Ex. 12:8; Num. 9:11). The kind of herbs so designated is not known. Probably they were any bitter herbs obtainable at the place and time when the Passover was celebrated. They represented the severity of the servitude under which the people groaned; and have been regarded also as typical of the sufferings of Christ.
One thing we should all be able to agree on is that water is a fluid necessary for the life of most animals and plants
Then we get to the last part of this passage which talks about how a fountain cannot have both salt water and fresh water
This is certainly true because the salt water will contaminate the fresh water every time
Salt Water - Water containing salts If we could live off of salt water the world would be different
Fresh Water - Water that does not contain salt
According to Jason G. Redwood the Advertising Manager and Web Developer at Solinst Canada Ltd., a manufacturer and international supplier of ground water monitoring instrumentation in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, this is a “real world” problem of today “One of the major concerns most commonly found in coastal aquifers, is the induced flow of salt water into fresh water aquifers caused by groundwater development, known as salt water intrusion.”
Also according to Gulf of Maine aquarium another problem is salt water incursion “Where sea level is rising, salt water can percolate through sandy soil into coastal wells. As fresh water is pumped out of the wells, salt water replaces it, refilling the wells with undrinkable water.”
In other words anytime salt water mixes with fresh water it contaminates it and makes the water undrinkable. The water becomes useless to us a supplier of life sustaining fluids.
How many of us are allowing our mouths to contaminate a complete system.
You know we need to make up our mind this day who we will serve.
The devil is still approaching us in the most subtle way possible. I would like to take a second and identify a few of the schemes used by the nasty creature. This is an email sent to me the other day and I would like to share it with you. It is entitled “Isn’t it strange”
Isn’t it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?
Isn’t it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you’re at church, and how short they seem when you’re watching a good movie?
Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say when you’re praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?
Isn’t it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?
Isn’t it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games, but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?
Isn’t it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events in the last minute?
Isn’t it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others, but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?
Isn’t it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say, but we question the words in the Bible?
Isn’t it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don’t want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?
Isn’t it strange how we send jokes in e-mails and they are forwarded right away, but when we are going to send messages about God, we think about it twice before we share it with others?
IT’S STRANGE ISN’T IT?
Sent by: Pamela Maxie
Hopefully you like I did got something out of this little poem that can help identify some of the enemies subtle tricks. He comes in tricks us and the next thing we know he has our mouth working for him and our body will not be far behind. (Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.)
CONCLUSION
We really need to be careful with what we say (Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.) When we speak things that are not of God we are declaring that we are no longer on His side and that we are intending to contaminate the entire life support system. Something absolutely must be done to stop you.
Let’s Pray
Thank You. May God continue to bless you and keep you. Amen
Your Friend
Minister Juan D. Lane Sr.
