We received a phone call last week that sounded intriguing. The man was very pleasant as he told me a technician would come into our home and test our water for us, free of charge. Like many people, I am concerned about what we are drinking, especially since we know it's crucial to drink plenty of water. So I said yes and booked the appointment.
When I told my husband, he grinned at me and told me he'd just been talking to some friends who'd received the same call the week before. The water test apparently revealed that they were drinking a liquid that was the next best thing to arsenic. So they bought a filtration system worth thousands of dollars.
I don't know how true that company's assessments are. I don't know how effective their filtration system is. I do know we don't have thousands of dollars. So I cancelled the appointment.
As I hung up I couldn't help but feel a little depressed. It seems we live in a toxic environment. Our water is suspect, our air is . . .
We received a phone call last week that sounded intriguing. The man was very pleasant as he told me a technician would come into our home and test our water for us, free of charge. Like many people, I am concerned about what we are drinking, especially since we know it's crucial to drink plenty of water. So I said yes and booked the appointment.
When I told my husband, he grinned at me and told me he'd just been talking to some friends who'd received the same call the week before. The water test apparently revealed that they were drinking a liquid that was the next best thing to arsenic. So they bought a filtration system worth thousands of dollars.
I don't know how true that company's assessments are. I don't know how effective their filtration system is. I do know we don't have thousands of dollars. So I cancelled the appointment.
As I hung up I couldn't help but feel a little depressed. It seems we live in a toxic environment. Our water is suspect, our air is worse; our food is either genetically modified or sprayed with chemicals. The combination is literally killing us. There are those who are working to remedy the situation, but most believe it's too little, too late.
It's all enough to make us think, ?eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die.? The futility of living any other way seems obvious.
But there is more to life. Even though we live in a poisoned environment, there is hope. There is hope for the environment as groups of scientists and individual citizens work toward a better tomorrow. There is hope for those who are ill, as doctors and individual people work toward finding cures. There is hope for us all, as God guides and directs those individuals, and reigns in His sovereignty over this world.
?We know that the whole creation has been groaning in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently? (Romans 8:22-25).
Paul wrote that to the people of Rome thousands of years ago, but it still holds true today. We have the hope of Christ when we have received the gift of His life, His death. There is no other hope more powerful. There is no other hope worth having. God will redeem what belongs to Him. Who do you belong to?
Marcia Laycock is a pastor's wife and freelance writer living in Alberta Canada. Her devotional book, The Spur of the Moment has been endorsed by Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and others. To order, and to view more of Marcia's writing, see her web site - www.vinemarc.com
Copyright Marcia Lee Laycock, 2000, 2001,2002,2003,2004,2005