Have you ever been to the Georgia Aquarium? It is the largest aquarium in the world which houses 120,000 animals, representing 500 species, in 8.5 million gallons of water. That’s a lot of water.
I have to admit, when we were driving there, I wasn’t overly excited about spending the day looking at fish, but I was blown away by what we were able to see. A dear friend of ours dives at the aquarium on a weekly basis to help take care of the habitats and feed the fish. He met us there and gave us a behind the scenes tour as well as a wealth of information for when we went back through on our own. The entire experience was very impressive.
As he shared about the various creatures and habitats, we began asking what he did when he volunteered. He shared how volunteers help feed the creatures, do dive shows for the aquarium quests but most often, clean the habitats so they are in stellar condition. As we looked at the largest exhibit they have, Ocean Voyager, he pointed out the rock he spent the morning scrubbing clean from algae. It took all of his time in the water that morning, over an hour and a half, to scrub it clean. There was a noticeable difference to the naked eye. When I asked him how often they did things like that, he replied,
Daily or the build up would be horrible and it wouldn’t be healthy for the animals.”
As I reflected back over my time at the aquarium, I realized the the time and care they devote to keeping the habitats clean and healthy for the animals there is similar to what we should be doing to keep our bodies clean and healthy. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says,
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;”
As the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are His habitat and it is up to us to ensure it is clean and healthy. The way we do that is by spending time before the Lord each day allowing Him to scrub us clean from anything that has contaminated us, either by our own choices or simply by living in a fallen world [Psalm 51:7]. Just like with the aquarium, it takes time. We can’t read through a one minute devotional out of Jesus Calling or rattle off the Lord’s Prayer and think we’re clean for the day. As Psalm 46:10 says, we need to,
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Have you sat before the Lord today and allowed Him to clean up any debris or residue that has attached itself to you? If not, what obstacle stands in your way? What are some of the things that prevent us from taking the time to do so?
I’ll start the list:
- Oversleeping
- Your turn now………….
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