IT’S ALIVE!
Near the humble North Dakota town of Minnewaukan, there is a monster growing. No it is not Frankenstein, it’s not Big Foot, it’s not Jason or Freddy, and it’s not even your sophomore geometry teacher. Instead this beast goes by a less formidable name, natives of the Peace Garden State call it…water!
Specifically, it’s called Devil’s Lake, and she was the little known pride of Benson and Ramsey counties. She, like the Great Salt Lake, are the only two sizable inland bodies of water in the continental United States to be classified as a “closed-basin” lake. This means that water is able to pour into the lake, but NOT have any reasonable way to release. And since snow and rainfall has increased dramatically in the region over the last handful of years, Devil’s Lake has slowly taken over the town. The lake was once 8 miles a way from town, but now Mennewaukans see the lake flooding their neighborhoods.
Next to calling Agent Moulder from the X-Files television show, there seems nothing can be done to stop this menace. The lake is the largest fresh water body in North Dakota, and because of its sprawling nature that has crept over all banks, now has a shoreline of over 1000 miles. The lake has depths of over 75 feet and has quadrupled its size over the last two decades. Scientists say that wet conditions are only going to continue, while hoping that these northern Everglades stay far from their main city of Fargo for fear of a hostile takeover. I think now is the time to declare war!
But the war I am talking about actually has nothing to do with water, or lakes, or North Dakota, or anything to do with geography at all. I say we declare war on sin—war on the intrusive thoughts put on us by the Devil and by our own sinful desires that can sometimes originate from within. For just like the flowing waves of this dead lake causes havoc on the lives of people, so does the flowering ideas the mind conjures up leads to our own spiritual destruction.
The Bible states in Ephesians 4:27-32, “Do not give the devil an opportunity.The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need. You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
I don’t believe that this body of water is called Devil’s Lake by accident. I feel the reason settlers titled this water mass with such an articulate and accurate title is that it is to serve as a reminder to us. The Devil, like his lake named for him, is endorheic in nature. Meaning, no life can flow from him or it since there is no pathway out. Friends, please choose to live a life worthy of Christ, live like the faithful of the Bible, men and women called Christians. Avoid the schemes of the evil one, for it leads to a trap, refuse sin, and be holy just as Christ is holy. Christ is the only path out.
Don’t Worry Be Happy
The song Don’t Worry Be Happy was a late 80’s chart buster as it gained phenomenal success for such a simple song. The lyrics written by Bobby McFerrin were copied from original Indian sage from the late 1800’s whose mantra was one of peace. I remember the first time I heard it. I was lifting weights with some serious iron pumpers when the lyrics pounced through the dolby surround sound stereo. Though it was definitely a mood killer to those of us that were lifting with a certain amount of intensity, it was definitely soothing. Despite the unusual beginnings of this now commonly used phrase, the message of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is one that is designed to relieve pressure from us all.
Psychologists say that common American worries include concerns about our retirement, hoping our salaries rise to meet spending costs, being hit by a lawsuit, accidents with our children, swine flu, and just about every major health issue. An old cliché states that worry cannot add a single day onto our lives and it’s true. With all the pressures facing us today, perhaps we should take McFerrin seriously when he states “in every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double.”
The Bible says a lot about worry, and most of the time it says NOT TO. In the passage our church’s pastor is preaching on for the next couple of weeks, Matthew 6:25-33, states "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Friends, worry is not just a bad idea, it is sin. In a nation that is coming increasingly close to double digit unemployment, has tens of thousands of foreclosed houses, and can’t even seem to smuggle the Olympic Games away from South America to Chicago, there seems to be just reason to worry about things like rent and food. But as Christians we will not. We will rest in the blessed assurance that our savior who died on the cross 2000 years ago for our future, will also take care of us in the present. Amen.