Entering my fourth decade, I’ve spent enough time on this planet to know a few things. One fear sells. When people are worried, they buy or acquire items to help them in a crisis. And number two, there is a new disaster to worry about every decade. Many of us remember Y2K, and we were encouraged to prepare for the end of the digital age; computers will crash, and financial markets will suffer… we should all fill our bathtubs with water and prepare for the end of the world at midnight.
Then again, in 2012, based on the calculations of the Mayans, the world was going to end. Doomsday predictors caused many people to fret about how the world would end, and once again, we should fill our bathtubs with water.
Although on a different scale, I have even heard about the predictions concerning today’s solar eclipse. This is it, the big one—there will be power surges, terrorist activity, and crumbling infrastructure. And what I have learned is that I need to fill my bathtub with water.
If I have just enough water, I can survive for a few more days. If everything crumbles around me, I can outlast my neighbors and hopefully emerge into a new world. I always think, “What happens if that next cataclysm lasts longer than a few days?” You can buy supplies that last six months- what if you need to survive seven months? No matter how much you plan or what you are worried about, there will come a time when something truly unexpected happens.
2 Peter 3:10-14 – “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. 11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. 14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.”
We anticipate the world to come, not by stocking up on supplies and hoarding drinking water, but by living in a way that pleases God. Those unexpected moments will happen to each of us, and our response should be whether we have become pure and blameless in God’s sight. The answer for those washed in the blood of the Lamb is a resounding “Yes.” We might be preparing for the next big disaster and even live as though the sky is perpetually falling. You might decide to live with your bathtub full of water, hoping it will provide you with some security. However, at some point, that water will run dry. At some point, you will need to find a true water source. I encourage you to tell your loved ones about the well that never runs dry.
John 4:13-14 – “Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
Then, you won’t have to worry about filling up your bathtubs.