‘Crater Lake Oregon’ photo by Elvis Spaddy on Unsplash.
Isn’t it true that you greatly prefer to look at and swim in beautiful, crystal-clear blue water? It seems to be a universal preference that’s interesting to think about! Look at the photo above of Crater Lake in Oregon. This lake is a ‘Geological Wonder’! Its’ gorgeous color is caused by the lake’s clarity, down to 120 feet and its 2000-foot depth. People drive for miles just to see it! My wife and I drove to Lake Keystone in Oklahoma. It is a huge lake (23,600 acres) formed by a dam on the Arkansas River.
We went there to be refreshed, to enjoy the view! The entire lake was brown! Recent heavy rains fed the Arkansas river which has a muddy bottom. All this mud made the lake brown. BROWN. We turned around and went home.
Of course, we also know that there is a correlation between the color of water and its risk to our health, especially stagnant water. It can harbor harmful bacteria and other microorganisms, including viruses, parasites, and fungi.
Dr. John Korstad, a limnologist, (one who studies lake ecology) and a good friend of mine, suggested that the color of water is a good metaphor for people. There are some, like John who seems to be like the waters of Crater Lake, crystal clear and blue, having depth and transparency of personality. Someone you can trust to be who they say they are! Isn’t this the type of person you want to be around?
But there are others out there who are full of ‘sediment’ like Lake Keystone. Sediment that filters the penetration of light and oxygen causing a eutrophic condition in water that can drastically reduce all life in that body of water, or spiritually speaking, in a human being. Sediment like, ‘the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things’ that the scripture says in Mark 4:19, ‘come in and choke the word’.
The Bible talks about our ‘cleansing by the washing with water through the word’.
In its context, this scripture is talking about the church, the body of Christ, which is also referred to as ‘the Bride of Christ’. The scripture reads, ‘Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.’ Ephesians 5:26-27. This ‘washing with water through the word’, ‘refers to the spiritual cleansing, sanctification, and purification of believers through the teachings, truth, and power of God’s word. (Scripture).
Ai Overview.
When you become a ‘believer’, you are instantaneously made a ‘New Creature in Christ! ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’ 2 Corinthians 5:17. This new creation is ‘cleansed, sanctified, and purified’! The old you is GONE! However, what we have spiritually, must be ‘worked out’ into our soul and body. The scripture admonishes us to ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.’ Philippians 2:12. ‘This means actively living out and validating the salvation already received through faith by pursuing obedience, sanctification, and spiritual maturity. It is not working for salvation, but rather cultivating the grace God has already provided, fueled by awe and reverence for Him.’ Ai Overview.
It’s getting rid of the ‘sediment’ that may still remain in you!
My wife and I left a church that preached this scripture as something additional we needed to do to secure our salvation as if Jesus dying on the cross wasn’t enough! Be secure in your salvation knowing this, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ Romans 10:13.
AND, ‘we can be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 1:6.
This verse ‘He who began a good work in you’ assures you that God will continue to ‘work out your salvation’, the cleansing, sanctification and purification you have already received in your spirit into your soul and body until the day of Christ Jesus, the day He returns to earth!
LET HIM MAKE YOU ‘CRYSTAL CLEAR’ AND HELP YOU REMOVE WHATEVER SEDIMENT
MAY REMAIN IN YOUR SOUL OR BODY!
Remember the acronym: PBPGINFWMY. Please be patient; God is not finished with me yet!
what a great analogy! May we all become adept at perceiving and removing our sediment!
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Great message, Stu! If you’re interested, there are many further things you are add to this topic in further blogs:
1a. This topic can be discussed further in lake water with how clay is in most soils, but in varying proportions due the geologic processes that have occurred over time in that area. Human ‘processes’ (logging, farming, land clearance, etc.) have greatly affected the way clay stays in the soil verses how it’s released into the watershed and thus enters rivers and lakes (or oceans).
1b. A side topic here is farming (including gardening): The best soil to grow most plants is “Sandy Loam” – a composite mixture of somewhat equal proportions of sand, silt, and clay. The sand promotes water penetration while the clay promotes the retention of water. Both soul ingredients are needed to carry and retain needed nutrients to the roots. It’s a balance of loss of nutrients through too fast movement of water (sand) and stagnation of water in the soil and even on the surface (clay) that leads to preventing needed aeration. Humans need to understand our role in minimizing our ‘bad’ practices and maximizing our helpful/beneficial practices)!
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