The human race is living beyond its means!!
Posted by Chris Scott (Senior Leader Bridge Church)
This is the constant cry of environmentalists and conservation agencies across the globe. A recent report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries, some of them world leaders in their fields today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural resources that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human consumption. In short, the world is rapidly running out of fuel and will eventually run dry. One day, they say, our rich and fertile planet will reach a crisis point where it will no longer be able sustain itself or its inhabitants and will shut down. This of course will have cataclysmic consequences for all of us who call the earth their home!
In June 1992 over 170 different Governments of the world came together at the Global Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro to discuss these issues and look for some answers to the problem of decreasing world energy source. As a result of this summit all the nations of the world have had to take the issue of energy conservation far more seriously and many measures have been put into place in the UK. In the meantime, while we try to preserve what we have scientists from every continent are frantically searching for a renewable energy source that will never be exhausted humanity…..
If only there was a fuel that was powerful enough to cope with the energy demands of the 21st Century and was on tap 24 hours a day and above all was never-ending!! All our problems would be over – we could all breathe a sigh of relief in the knowledge that our future is secure!!
I would love to be able to reassure that everything will be OK in the end, but like you, I really don’t know if we will ever find such a ‘wonder’ fuel. I suppose we all live in hope that we will, but there is no-one who really knows whether it exists, or what our future holds…….or is there??
Well actually, there is hope…..there is someone who does care passionately about our planet because he created it and owns it. This person is totally in love with the world, with everyone in it, and he offers to each one of us a source of energy for life that is effective, eternal and never-ending. This person is God. A little over 2000 years ago this person came to the earth as a man called Jesus, he lived and walked with us and demonstrated how we can live our life with this unique, renewable power within. One day he met a thirsty woman at a well as she was drawing water and they began a conversation about how to satisfy the thirst of life. He recognised that in her life she was running on empty, not just physically but also emotionally, relationally and spiritually. Her life was in a real mess and although she had tried to fill and fuel her life with many different things she was now weary, unfulfilled and in need lost. Jesus then gave her a remarkable promise. He said “Everyone who drinks this well water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be a spring within, gushing fountains of endless life. (John 4:13-14 The Message Version)”
In other words he was saying ‘I know that you life has run out of fuel but I can give you a fuel that will last forever’……..What an outrageous promise!!
Yet millions upon millions of people from all kinds of backgrounds and cultures have found this to be a genuine promise. That a life in relationship with God through Jesus has provided the power to embrace life with all its ups and downs, good, bad and ugly!! Life is great, and I guess we would not readily exchange it for the alternative!! However, it can be a real struggle sometime to make it work. The pieces of the life jigsaw do not always go together easily, and we can find ourselves tired and frustrated, but it’s so reassuring to know the God has the lid of the box and knows exactly how it all fits together. Tap into his endless supply and you will have everything you need to live life to the full.
Chris
