The Dead Sea and Me
What in the world could a smelly, salt-filled lake in the Middle East have to do with me and my life?
A lot. It’s a great metaphor, illustrating a couple of important principles . . .
- The Dead Sea is ‘dead’ because the fresh water flowing into it gets stuck. It has nowhere to flow out. Consequently, it gets stale and stinky. It’s useless.
Lesson – When we pray, study the Bible and participate in church stuff, God is pouring ‘fresh water’ into us. When we do nothing with what He shows us . . . when we ignore the needs of others, we risk becoming stale, self-righteous, and judgmental. We may become more knowledgeable and holy, but we’re useless to the Lord.
- The water in the Dead Sea is salty . . . very salty. Yet the water flowing in is fresh. When fresh water flows in, it absorbs the salt and loses its usefulness.
Lesson – When we get hurt, when life doesn’t go our way, when people disappoint or betray us, it’s easy to become bitter. When we choose not to forgive and hold on to how we’ve been wronged, our souls, personalities, and outlooks become more salty than sweet. No matter how clean and fresh and wonderful new experiences and relationships might be, they flow into salty, bitter hearts and before long, they’re salty too. We find something wrong with everything and everybody and never feel grateful.
Water is either salty or fresh. It can’t be both at the same time. People can’t either. Being simultaneously mad and glad is impossible.
But just as fresh water becomes salty when it flows into a salty environment, salty water can become fresh when it goes through a process called desalinization. When the salt gets removed from the water, it becomes fresh and useful.
Jesus is our desalinization plant. His death on the Cross took the bitter salt of our sin from our souls, making us fresh and useful. It’s up to us to keep our water fresh by not allowing the salt of sin to return. And maybe the most pervasive salt we struggle with is unforgiveness.
Grow your knowledge and build your faith, but make sure it flows out of you by pouring into others. And keep your water fresh. Don’t let the salt of sin and unforgiveness take away your joy.
Scripture: Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:12-13)
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