Saturday, October 16, 2010

Blog Action Day 2010 - Water

Yesterday (10/15) was Blog Action Day 2010!  Well, I'm a day late, but the designated topic was:  Water.  I initially thought it was a lame topic, but it turns out that I had quite a bit to say about good ol' H2O.  Some is science-y geekiness and the rest is hard core spiritual teaching.  Whichever you prefer to read, I hope that you enjoy!

Water is vital and we'll perish quickly without access to clean water.  The only thing more essential to life than water is air.  You can life for weeks without food.  For days without water.  For minutes without oxygen.

I'm gonna get my inner-geek on here and break out my limited chemistry knowledge for this post, but I leaned heavily on my husband's vast knowledge about H2O.  What can I say?  I was a college drop out and I'm just not all that bright about such things.

- Water is necessary for life, but drinking "pure" water can kill you.  You can't live on pure water because your body requires the minerals, which are electrolytes, to allow the electrical impulses in your nervous system to work.  You see, the minerals in water make it a conductor of electricity.  No electrolytes means no life.

- Water absorbs more heat per pound than any other chemical compound known to man.  Let that sink in for just a second.  Considering that the human body is mostly made of water, and cooled by water via sweat, isn't it interesting that we are cooled by the very same compound that absorbs more heat than any other?  Fascinating design, isn't it?  Oh wait, we only happened by accident. . .right, that's the ticket.

- All the water that is currently on this planet is all the water that has ever been on this planet.  Yes, that means that the fresh mountain spring water that you currently enjoy was someone's piss once upon a time.  Thank goodness for filtration, evaporation, and condensation, eh?  It's actually a pretty fantastic method for something that only happened by accident, huh?

- Water's hydrogen bonds hold together until we add so much energy that they rip apart.  These hydrogen bonds are unlike any other chemical of a similar design.  What this means is that water has a very, very, very high boiling point, higher than any other similar chemical compound, which is 212 F or 100 C at sea-level atmospheric pressure.  Without this high boiling point, our oceans and lakes would have dried up long ago and the human race, actually all life on Earth as we know it, would have ceased to exist.  Damn, it's an amazing thing that only happened by accident, right?

Water is pretty cool stuff, right?
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This planet was made by a loving Creator.  We didn't happen by accident; we were designed.  He knew exactly what He was doing and he gave us the miracle that is water.  Indeed, water is referenced often in the good book.  Following are a few New Testament passages that really stood out to me as I wrote this blog post.

- In John 7:38, Jesus said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  He was talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit for all believers in Him.  The Holy Spirit is a living and separate member, the third member, of the Holy Trinity.  If you believe in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit within and the living water flows from you courtesy of Christ.  Do you have streams of living water flowing from within you?

- The apostle John further commented in the water vein in Revelation 7:17 when he said, "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe every tear from their eyes."  The Lamb is Jesus, the perfect sacrificial Lamb for all humanity, and he is our shepherd and Lord; belief in Him results in streams of living water flowing from the believer.

- And again in Revelation 21:6, "He said to me: "It is done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life."  God was at the beginning and He will be at the end of His creation.  Eternal salvation may well be free to you and me, but it cost one man everything he had - his life.  Drink from this living water, believe in Jesus' sacrifice for all sins, and enjoy life everlasting.

- Finally, the most compelling and important biblical reference to water is found in 1 John 5:6-12.  The apostle really boiled it down to just a few short lines when he said that, "This is the one who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ.  He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.  And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three who testify:  the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three are in agreement.  We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.  Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.  Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.  And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (my own emphasis added)  I realize that I'm going to sound like the worst Baptist in history, but your own personal baptism through water has absolutely nothing to do with your salvation.  Belief in Christ is all that is required.  Jesus was baptized at the beginning of His ministry and he bled at his own sacrifice; he came by water and by blood.  If you believe in Jesus, that he was the perfect sacrifice for all of your sins, you have everlasting life.  If you don't, you do not.  That's not my opinion and I'm not trying to be cruel, but the Word is very clear on this particular issue.

I believe in the Son of God.  I know Jesus, know peace.  I believe that I know where I'm going when my time on this planet is up.  Do you?

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It was challenging to write about a topic that I didn't come up with and I thought that "water" sucked, but I think it was a good writing exercise.  So I'm asking my readership to submit a topic that you'd like me to write about. . .it can be anything at all.  I promise that I'll do my best to make it an entertaining read, but I'll make no guarantees.  I look forward to researching and writing based on your suggestions!

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