Protecting Our Water Sources

Welcome to Keep the Ground. Keep the Ground is based on Genesis 2:15 where Adam is instructed to work the ground and keep it. It will look at our responsibilities to the earth and what can be done to preserve it.

This month we have been looking at the destructive habits of exploitation and instead how we should be focusing our time and efforts on preserving the earth and the natural resources that we have been provided.

In today’s letter, we will continue looking at this, but also looking at the other side of things to see why we should care about the environment and how we can best steward it. While there are many reasons, and things to care about in the environment, this week we are looking at water and why it is important.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” - John 7: 37 - 38

This is not the only time that Jesus speaks about living water. Another time, and one that you might remember more is when he is speaking to the Samaritan woman and he offers her living water and she comes to believe in Jesus.

Clearly, Jesus is the living water and he is where our source of life comes from. Looking back at the story of creation, we see that all life comes from the mouth of God whether it is spoken into existence, or as is the case with Adam, the breath of life is breathed into him.

Looking at the things that are required for life, all of these can be found in descriptions of God. He is the bread of life, he is the living water, he is our shelter, he is the breath of life. These line up perfectly with the four things that we need for survival, air, water, food, shelter, and he not only provides these, but provides these more abundantly and in greater ways than we can ever imagine.

Throughout the rest of scripture, there are many ways that God shows that water is part of his creation and thus under his dominion. It almost seems fantastical when you look at all of the things that happen in the Bible when it comes to water.

God parts the Red Sea and the Jordan river allowing the Israelites to walk across on dry land. He brings forth water from a rock on multiple occasions, He floods the entire earth due to the wickedness of the world, He turns water into wine, He commands the rain and the waves on the Sea of Galilee. These are just some of the ways that we see God’s reign and authority over the water. If He has created the waters, which He has, and he has placed us on the earth to care for it and keep it, which He has, then it follows that water is something we should care about and should work to preserve it as well.

We live on an incredible planet which has everything we need to sustain life. This is the only planet that has this ability and has been created this way. If we look at the water that is available on the planet, we are not surprised to find that a majority of the surface of the planet it covered in water. Though there is so much water available, most of it is no good for us to drink.

Nearly 97% of the water on the earth is salt water. While salt is necessary for proper functioning of the human body, having it in such quantities as found in sea water can actually be harmful to ones health leading to dehydration when it is consumed rather than providing the needed hydration that one lost at sea would hope for.

The other 3% of water is all that we have to use to live with, and most of this water is not available for our use, but rather is tied up in ways that we can’t access it. This leaves us with less than 1% of the water on the entire planet that is safe for us to drink.

While in most parts of the United States, we don’t have to worry about having access to clean water, there are many people around the world who rely upon it every day and will go to great lengths just to get a little bit of water. Unfortunately, much of this water is either impure or it has been contaminated by pollution. When we think of pollution in a river, we often think of the bottles and other trash that we can see floating on the surface, or we might think of the things that have sunk down in the water and have nestled deep in the mud.

We often don’t think about the other things that can pollute the water. These can be all kinds of things from excess nutrients from runoff of areas soaked in chemical fertilizers to hazardous wastes that are injected directly into the water supply from factories to even bacteria from human waste in areas where there is not adequate systems for properly disposing of it.

All of these can make water that is supposed to be pure into water that not only looks dirty, but water that can give diseases, or even cause death in the wrong circumstances.

For instance, there is a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where oxygen level are so low that fish and other organisms don’t grow there. This is related to excessive nutrients causing algae to grow, die, and sink to the bottom squeezing out the oxygen that would otherwise be there. This area covers over 6,000 square miles and is projected to continue to grow. While we can’t drink the water from the ocean where this happens, it is a reminder of the scale and the impact that exist to our water sources.

The first thing that you can do about the problem of water is be conscious of the amount of water that you use in in your personal, daily life.

Even though this doesn’t amount to much when it comes to the grand scheme of things, if enough people are conscious about the amount of water that they use, eventually this can lead to at least marginal improvements in the amount of water that is used.

Another thing you can do is to shop for organic fruits and vegetables where the chemical fertilizers aren’t used. This helps to shift the mindset so that people realize that there is more value in the products that are grown without these harmful chemicals and eventually we might be able to switch away from these chemicals all together, though this is not likely due to the size of the fertilizer industry and what they would have to lose were everyone were to switch to organic farming practices.

You can also help clean up the rivers, or even along the highway because all trash makes it into the water in some way or another. And one step further is you can switch to reusable products that aren’t meant to be thrown away thus keeping something out of the landfill or the river with every use.

For a more in depth look into the importance of water as well as the Christian responsibility to care for it, I recommend Matthew Sleeth’s book The Gospel According to the Earth. It was in reading his book that I was able to realize some of the things that I have mentioned in the article and I think he did a great job of explaining many of these topics.

Conservation of the earth is part of the responsibilities of the Christian and we should always look for new ways that we can utilize the giftings that God has given us in care for His creation.

Creation is one of the wonderful ways that we can see the Glory of God on display. Many of us never get encounters face to face with God while living on the earth, but we are reminded of his goodness by looking at the bee buzzing, or the mighty trees. We see in everything how God created life, and we can praise Him for that.

This week take the time to recognize how you can better steward the planet with your water usage and let me know in the comments what you do regarding water to make the world a better place.

Thank you for joining Keep the Ground.

May your labor be fruitful, and your land well-kept.

— Christopher