Dirty Water: Whats Getting In?
Once a year my family goes on a vacation to hang out and relax. This year, for the first time we decided to go coastal area to enjoy the weather, beach, and sights. It was really perfect weather, and we had a fun time with all our kids running around and playing with their cousins. One of my sisters and my wife thought it would be fun to walk around and grab some lunch. I agreed, so we walked around the little shops with no real goal to achieve, other than enjoying the sites. Eventually we all agreed it was time to get some food.
We found a nice restaurant which had outside picnic tables on sand, and looked like it would serve great food. It was just that, an excellent meal completely worth the cost. At least it was a great meal until the dirty water incident. My sister went to the outside bar asking if they could fill my nephew's sippy cup with some fresh water. The reply was nothing short of surprising and worrisome. Apparently all the water in the area tested positive for bacteria causing an immediate boil water advisory. The restaurant informed my sister that they could no longer serve water. The waitresses began walking around to all the tables and removing the half drunk water of the customers. Of course there was some concern, as we had all been drinking water and soda for the past hour and a half. I assumed this was just local high guidelines and statutes so their residents felt safe, but that wasn't entirely the case. We left the restaurant still not knowing what the bacteria was and I, at least, was secretly hoping it wasn't serious.
After leaving the restaurant, we decided to get some dessert and cleanse our pallets. We arrived at the ice cream store only to see that it was closed because they could not sanitize their utensils or machines after the boil water order was issued. This raised a red flag for sure, and now I was starting to wonder what's really going on. Finally we found another Ice Cream place who had to bring in bottled water and sanitize all their utensils separately in order to stay open.
Come to find out, per a local area website, the water contained traces of human and animal fecal matter. Yes completely disgusting and definitely made our stomachs turn after hearing the news. Per the website, they explained that a raw water sample tested positive for enterococci, and that some distribution samples tested positive for total coliform." We were all fine (I think), after getting past the idea of what we just drank, we had to try and forget about it and move on.
Why am I telling you this? Believe it or not, the dirty water got me thinking about our Christian walk. I had no idea what I was drinking when I was at lunch, who knew it was straight up bacteria? But what I was ingesting could have caused infection or sickness without me even realizing why I was sick. Do we know what we're allowing into our mind, body or soul? Matthew 6:22 says, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. " What you allow yourself to see has a serious effect on your whole body (i.e.. mind, body, soul), and sometimes we may be oblivious to what we are exposed too. Before you know it, your infected with bitterness, anger, hurt, depression, etc...; yet you were opening the door to who you are and exposing your innermost being.
I bring this up to you as a self check. Run a test on the things you are allowing into your life and ensure that they align with how Jesus tells us to live. Don't allow the bacteria to eat away at you and get you "sick". Once you find the bacteria, then get to the source and disinfect it. Getting to the root of a problem is the way you receive complete freedom and separation from the hold it has on you. Just like our vacation spot is having to chlorinate and clean out the dirty water from the well, maybe it's time that we all clean out the dirty water in our lives.
We found a nice restaurant which had outside picnic tables on sand, and looked like it would serve great food. It was just that, an excellent meal completely worth the cost. At least it was a great meal until the dirty water incident. My sister went to the outside bar asking if they could fill my nephew's sippy cup with some fresh water. The reply was nothing short of surprising and worrisome. Apparently all the water in the area tested positive for bacteria causing an immediate boil water advisory. The restaurant informed my sister that they could no longer serve water. The waitresses began walking around to all the tables and removing the half drunk water of the customers. Of course there was some concern, as we had all been drinking water and soda for the past hour and a half. I assumed this was just local high guidelines and statutes so their residents felt safe, but that wasn't entirely the case. We left the restaurant still not knowing what the bacteria was and I, at least, was secretly hoping it wasn't serious.
After leaving the restaurant, we decided to get some dessert and cleanse our pallets. We arrived at the ice cream store only to see that it was closed because they could not sanitize their utensils or machines after the boil water order was issued. This raised a red flag for sure, and now I was starting to wonder what's really going on. Finally we found another Ice Cream place who had to bring in bottled water and sanitize all their utensils separately in order to stay open.
Come to find out, per a local area website, the water contained traces of human and animal fecal matter. Yes completely disgusting and definitely made our stomachs turn after hearing the news. Per the website, they explained that a raw water sample tested positive for enterococci, and that some distribution samples tested positive for total coliform." We were all fine (I think), after getting past the idea of what we just drank, we had to try and forget about it and move on.
Why am I telling you this? Believe it or not, the dirty water got me thinking about our Christian walk. I had no idea what I was drinking when I was at lunch, who knew it was straight up bacteria? But what I was ingesting could have caused infection or sickness without me even realizing why I was sick. Do we know what we're allowing into our mind, body or soul? Matthew 6:22 says, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. " What you allow yourself to see has a serious effect on your whole body (i.e.. mind, body, soul), and sometimes we may be oblivious to what we are exposed too. Before you know it, your infected with bitterness, anger, hurt, depression, etc...; yet you were opening the door to who you are and exposing your innermost being.
I bring this up to you as a self check. Run a test on the things you are allowing into your life and ensure that they align with how Jesus tells us to live. Don't allow the bacteria to eat away at you and get you "sick". Once you find the bacteria, then get to the source and disinfect it. Getting to the root of a problem is the way you receive complete freedom and separation from the hold it has on you. Just like our vacation spot is having to chlorinate and clean out the dirty water from the well, maybe it's time that we all clean out the dirty water in our lives.
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