Facts about water

Facts about water

Human beings use what is known as fresh water. Most water in the world is not fresh. In fact, 97% of the water in our planet is salt water; leaving 3% as fresh water. However, of that amount only 0.3% is available for our consumption – this is called surface water. And, this number is decreasing steadily. As man continues to abuse the environment and build in places where water use to exist, the sources for water are disappearing.

It is estimated that approximately 70% of the surface water is used for agricultural irrigation. Of this about 30% is lost due to evaporation or inefficient methods of irrigation. The other use for surface water is industrial. It is estimated that 22% of the water is used for this. Major industrial users include power plants, which use water for cooling or as a power source (i.e. hydroelectric plants), ore and oil refineries, which use water in chemical processes, and manufacturing plants, which use water as a solvent.

It is estimated that 8% of worldwide water use is for household purposes. These include drinking water, bathing, cooking, sanitation, and gardening. Basic household water is commonly called potable water. Other uses are recreational and environment. Both uses are in a small but growing percentage. Recreational uses would include swimming, skiing, white water rafting, and golf courses. Environmental water usage includes artificial wetlands, artificial lakes intended to create wildlife habitat, fish ladders , and water releases from reservoirs timed to help fish spawn.

We can see how versatile water is. And as our lesson states, water is also very necessary. we need water in order to survive; without it we die. In fact, every body cell, tissue, and organ needs water to function. Water helps to regulate body temperature, transports nutrients and oxygen to the cells, removes waste, prevents constipation, moistens tissues, cushions joints, and keeps blood flowing throughout the body. We need to drink more water than our thirst demands. Many liquids, such as water, milk, and fruit and vegetable juices, contribute to hydration; however, alcohol and caffeinated beverages may paradoxically increase fluid loss, which may be harmful.

Pure water is superior to many other drinks. Starting your day with one or two glasses of water and continue drinking water between meals will make sure you are well hydrated. Water has other healthful functions, as well. Hand washing may reduce transmission of many infectious agents from person to person. A large percentage of infectious disease would be eliminated by hand washing, especially before eating. Daily bathing removes accumulated dirt, which can lead to disease, as well.

Perhaps the point Jesus was trying to make to the Samaritan woman was that you need God as much as you need water. But, unlike water, which can only satisfy you and temporarily, His living water can satisfy you and others around you eternally. What is this living water and how can we partake of it? The following quote from Ellen White gives us an answer,

"The priest had that morning performed the ceremony which commemorated the smiting of the rock in the wilderness. That rock was a symbol of Him who by His death would cause living streams of salvation to flow to all who are athirst. Christ's words were the water of life. There in the presence of the assembled multitude He set Himself apart to be smitten, that the water of life might flow to the world. In smiting Christ, Satan thought to destroy the Prince of life; but from the smitten rock there flowed living water. As Jesus thus spoke to the people, their hearts thrilled with a strange awe, and many were ready to exclaim, with the woman of Samaria, 'Give me this water, that I thirst not.' John 4:15."—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 454.

The ceremony she is referring to refers us to when Moses smote the rock in Exodus 17:6. She says this represented Christ as the Rock, and His Words are the water that flowed from out of Him. Paul wrote a similar idea in 1 Corinthians 10: 1 – 4,


1 Corinthians 10: 1 – 4 (NIV)
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.


In Ephesians 5: 25 – 26 Paul says that Christ cleanses and sanctifies the Church "with the washing of water by the Word." Perhaps echoing the Words of Christ in John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." However, John adds another dimension to the living water. Let us read what He says in John 7: 37 – 39,


John7:37 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.
John7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
John7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The Spirit of God is the water of life. He becomes the cleansing Word in us. Since He is God He is righteous. Christ's words are righteous because He is righteous. We can conclude that water of life is the righteousness of God. Therefore, the receiving of the Spirit is the drinking in of the righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus. This drinking in of righteousness by faith makes the sinner a righteous man – a keeper of the law of God. Abraham was a good example of this. God promised him son, and he believed what God said. His believing was the receiving of the Holy Spirit because it resulted in his being accounted righteous (Gen. 15:1-15). This experience can be ours too.

We see in Revelation 22:17, that God gives us all to take the water of life freely. We can experience an abundance of the Holy Spirit in our lives as long as we allow Jesus Christ, the Fountain of Life to be one indwell us. God has promised us an abundance of spiritual water; we just have to believe He will fulfill the promise, receive it and drink. In His love, He gives forever to everyone to drink freely of the Water of Life (John 4:13, 14). As God provided the children of Israel water from the rock, now Jesus provides this Water of Life (1 Cor. 10:1–4) to us today.
--
Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com