Our Precious Water
“Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” (The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
For some reason the above verse or “water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink” has been going over and over in my mind this past few months. News reports of all the flooding around the globe and the violent weather, plus different articles that I have been reading on the quality of our drinking water has probably brought it to my mind. Water is so important to us. The general rule of thumb is that we can only last 3 days without water. Some can last longer and some less. In any event it is an absolute necessity to us.
Today, though, our precious water is in trouble. We do not even really know the quality of the water that we are drinking. In so many cities we have chlorine and fluoride added to the water and both have been linked to many serious health problems. In areas where there has been massive flooding we have dirty water that carries all sorts of diseases. Many areas of the world are experiencing severe drought conditions and therefore they have very little water and the list goes on.
We were blessed with all the precious resources of our Israel lands through God’s blessing to our father Abraham. “And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly…my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations…And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” (Gen. 17: 2, 4, & 7). God gave us these wonderful resources which are now being abused. “You would think that corporations would be lining up to oppose a campaign to secure the right to water. But as governments around the world refused to enshrine water as a human right, corporations had a revelation. By embracing the right to water, they sought to undercut anti-privatization activists. They are now pressuring governments to adopt privatization to deal with the global water crisis. They argue that if corporations are restricted from privatizing water, people will be denied access to water. This dangerous and disturbing, development distorts the meaning of the right to water.” (Water Privateers Join the RIGHTS Bandwagon, The Council of Canadians, Canadian Perspectives Spring/Summer 2005). If this happens water will be another commodity which we buy and sell for profit. This basic of all human needs will be a commodity!
This is what happened in Bolivia in 2000. Workers there who were making only a minimum wage had to pay as much as a quarter of their monthly salary to pay for their water bills when the water company (owned by a consortium of international corporations) signed a 40 year deal with the government. If they couldn’t pay, their water was cut off. There were so many street protests which were joined by hundreds of civil society groups that the water company finally handed the water system over to a public board elected by citizens. (Info taken from An Island In A Sea Of Privatization, The Council of Canadians above issue). It appears that in Australia too there is a fight going on as the Federal government wants to take over the power of water. The excuse is the severe droughts that they are having. The people are fighting this.
We must protect our precious water. Our bodies cry out for water. As it is now most people do not drink enough water. Many of our current health problems could be cured by simply drinking at least eight glasses of water a day with a pinch of unprocessed sea salt. Every cell in our bodies needs salt and water. This is what a saline solution is made up of. We must protect our water at all costs. We must fight for the precious resources that God gave to us to use, not abuse. We are not alone. God has not forgotten His promise and He hears our prayers
Our lands are under attack and our people are asleep. Hopefully there will soon be an awakening. Our eyes will be opened to all the glorious things that God has planned for us. Soon I believe we will recognize our sorry state and see how low we have fallen. May God grant us eyes to see and ears to hear that we may repent and turn back to Him. Jesus Christ is our Living Water.
“And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.” (Isa. 30:25).
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38).