When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.
- Exodus 15:23-25
The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”
“Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’” And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.
- 2 Kings 2:19-22
The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.
Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
- 2 Kings 4:40-41
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Ephesians 4:20-24
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
- Proverbs 4:23
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- James 1:13-15
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
- Galatians 5:19-26
Boilerplate
I’m Harold Dykstra. I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story. My time is well spent. A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel. I did not know she was an angel at the time. The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone. And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy. She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others. She changed my life.
In her leaving, she said someone would come. I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived. While I had no desire to start over with romance, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.
This Week’s Question
Last week, Babs and I had an uncomfortable discussion about American football. I still contend that I like to watch it, but I do not worship it. Babs is not convinced that I do not worship it. That is one that we may re-address as the season develops.
But this week, Babs dropped me off at the food bank to talk to Tim and to stock the shelves. She then went to the oil change place and had the oil changed. I had to explain what she needed to tell them. We needed the full synthetic oil due to the car’s age, and if the wear on the tires warrants rotation, they should rotate the tires. Since they will see a woman drive into the bay, the answer to all other questions is either a flat ‘no.’ Or she could say that she would wait until next time, no matter how black a normally white air filter is. Oil filter and oil replaced, check air pressure, check for rotation. That is it. The car got her to the place. It can get her home, and then she could tell me what looked nasty. I could even change the oil, but I do not have a reputable means to dispose of the spent oil. So, I help send someone else’s children to college when a little environmentally friendly recycle center could let me do it myself.
On the way home, she had a ton of questions. She had been hounded by the supervisor. She had been berated because if those things were not replaced, she would have a breakdown on the way home. Guess what? We got home safely. I checked out the things that they mentioned and only a couple needed to be replaced, and even then, not an emergency. Babs was being targeted by gender. Men do not get hounded like that because the oil change supervisor does not know if the guy is a car guy. The sad thing is that many women are car women, but they are treated like they are idiots.
But when we got home, Babs wanted a simple hug to be reassured that she was a worthwhile human being, and then she wanted to watch while I checked the things that they checked.
Then, she asked the big question. “Harold, why do you have to change the oil in the first place?”
I smiled, “Babs, there are two reasons, basically. One is basically mechanical while the other is chemical. Which do you prefer?”
Babs scrunched her nose. “Both, Harold. You should know me by now. Just like a Bible study. I want it all. But since you are a mechanical engineer, I want to see you squirm a little. Give me the chemical reason first.”
I snickered, “I do not have to squirm too much. I have worked with a few chemical engineers who are constantly irritated with their mechanical counterparts. So, I have heard the lectures. Oil is not one pure substance. It is a combination of large-chained and aromatic hydrocarbons. It is mostly carbon and hydrogen, but there is nitrogen in there and oxygen. Some oils speak of being sulfur free, but it is hard to be perfectly sulfur free. So, it is mostly carbon and hydrogen. To get those long chains and aromatic rings in the compounds, you have to have carbon connected to carbon. Are you with me so far?”
Babs said, “So, if the carbon does not like the carbon next to it, then you end up with a bowl full of peas, instead of having a bowl full of split pea soup.”
I scratched my head, thinking that she kind of got it close, but… I decided to move on. “Okay, when you drive a car, the engine gets hot and parts move around. That does two things, the mechanical wear and the chemical breakdown.”
Babs’ eyes got big. “The oil has a nervous breakdown?”
I sighed, “A physical breakdown. The aromatic rings break into long chains, but the long chains then break into shorter chains. Those shorter chains do not lubricate as well as the longer chains. If you let it go too long, it would not be oil at all. Some would escape the system, and the rest turns into sludge. That is when the engine breaks down. But that is also where the mechanical problem is the worst. There is a filter that filters contaminants out of the oil, but that leaks smaller contaminants past it, or the filter breaks down, or the filter clogs. So, now, you have oil that is not oil anymore, something grimy. And that grimy substance has little bits of metal filings in it. So, that is hazardous to the car, and when you remove it, it is hazardous to the environment. So, I have the oil change place take care of the environment so that I do not have to do it. The oil change is very easy to do, except for getting rid of the spent oil.”
Babs asked, “So, is there a Christian equivalent to an oil change? Can we have a Bible study on it?”
I shrugged, “Why not?” But inside, I was thinking that this was going to be strange.
That night, after our evening meal, Babs was at the table, her hands clasped in her lap, and her shoulders were rocking back and forth. I think she was anticipating me falling flat on my face.
I started by saying, “Babs, we first need to separate the human from the Christian.”
Babs gasped, “Wouldn’t that hurt?! I mean, I thought you cannot fall away so that you were saved and then not saved.”
I smiled, “I am glad you put it that way. There are a few verses, not tons of them, that talk about back sliding or falling from Grace. But there are two things going here: salvation and sanctification. And there are two types of people who call themselves Christians: born-again true believers and social Christians.”
Babs scrunched her nose. “I have not been going to church for too long, but I can grasp what you are saying. The problem is that we don’t know where some of these people are.”
I nodded, “Yeah, they stay around the church long enough to know the right words to say, but we might never know what is in their hearts, and that is what counts. The true believers cannot lose their salvation, but they can surely put a dint in their sanctification to the point of being no help to God here on earth and no growth spiritually. That is back sliding, but what people call falling from Grace cannot be done. We cannot lose our salvation. But was it salvation in the first place or did they just know the right words to say?”
Babs nodded eagerly, “So, we have done some definitions, but where are the Bible verses that talk about getting an oil change?”
I shrugged, “My point is that we can just look at contamination, and we have Bible stories about things in the water or stew pot that make it dangerous, if not deadly, to consume. Exodus 15 talks about how they went through the desert and reached Marah, an oasis, but the water was bitter. Moses prayed, and God led Moses to a piece of wood. Moses threw the piece of wood in the water, and it became good water to drink. Now, did the piece of wood make the water clean?”
Babs scrunched her nose and said, “My answer is definitely ‘no-yes,’”
“One or the other, Babs.” I chided.
Babs huffed, “I don’t want to be wrong, Harold! Can I avoid the question and say that God made the water clean?”
I laughed, “That was what I was going for, anyway.”
I continued, “But when Elisha first came back from seeing Elijah go into heaven in a whirlwind, guarded by a chariot of fire, Elisha arrived in Jericho. The people of Jericho had rebuilt the cursed city and the water was bad. So, Elisha took a little water and a little salt and added that to the water and proclaimed that the water was good to drink. Again, not enough salt to make a difference. God purified the water, removing the curse. And then Elisha was with his prophets in training, and they made a stew with whatever they could find, since there was a famine. But there was death in the pot, probably from some inedible gourds that had been added. This time, Elisha put in some flour, but God purified the stew. So, those examples are stories that illustrate any human can be contaminated by eating or drinking the wrong thing, getting sick or even dying. But what makes a human a Christian?”
Babs sat more erect, and she said, “Jesus!”
I snickered, “And what happens to us?”
Babs smiled, “Second Corinthians 5:17 says that we become a new creation. The old is gone and the new is here… Exclamation … POINT!”
I asked, “Are you being silly on purpose tonight?”
Babs rocked her shoulders a bit, “Hey! I got the oil changed in the car today and I feel empowered.”
I groaned, “Babs, it was only an oil change.”
Babs leaned in close, “But I had never done that before. And I would have screwed it up big time if you hadn’t coached me ahead of time.”
I leaned over, so that her head was against my chest. “I am glad I could help. But who changed your oil before?”
“Ted, mostly,” Babs sighed. I had to ask. “Ted was my production assistant. One film after another and Ted got me whatever I needed. Then one day I asked him if it was difficult watching people have sex all day long, and he only nodded. He and I were the only ones in my trailer, so I went over to Ted and made his day. It was the only time once I turned eighteen that the cameras were not rolling.”
I sighed, “And now, I am the new Ted, I suppose.”
Babs smiled, “No, silly, I am a new creation. The old is gone and the new is here. Now, what is next, big boy.”
I started to feel warm. I loosened a couple of buttons on my shirt. “Ephesians 4 goes into more detail. The old self is lured by deceitful desires. We are deceived that this desire is better than God’s way. That is why it is so hard, umm, difficult to rid ourselves of one sin or another. The desires themselves deceive us. We should guard our heart as it says in Proverbs 4:23. And we must never think that God tempts us, but we are tempted by our own evil desires. That is from James 1.”
Babs asked, “But I desire you, Harold. Right now. Right here on the dining room table. We have promised to love each other only. Is that evil?”
I sighed, “We have both said that we want this to be pure, uncontaminated by sin. We would be cheating each other of that accomplishment and God would be disappointed that we could not maintain a vow that we gave. Mid-February is coming, Babs, and I think the busier we get, the easier it will be. But, we will still have moments like this when we must be strong.”
Babs smiled, and she kissed me gently, “But to whom are you saying that, Harold? Me or you?”
I sighed, “Can it be both?”
Babs smiled a sly, naughty smile and said, “No-yes.”
I snickered, “Are you going to keep this up?”
Babs was even more playful, “No-yes.”
I asked, “But I have one more Bible passage. Should I continue?”
Babs said, dejectedly, “Okay.”
I smiled, “Now remove that pouty face. Galatians 4 says, ‘The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.’ If any of those exist, we need to rid ourselves of those things. We need to get rid of the old. We can only do that through God’s help.”
Babs looked concerned, “I need more than an oil change. That sexual immorality, impurity, and orgies was my life for a long time.”
I asked, “Have you done any of those since you accepted Jesus?”
Babs looked offended, “No, but I have wanted to do them with you.”
I nodded, “In time, Babs, but God has already given you that oil change. You do not do those things, and in time, you will only desire the things God gives you. Please, once we get married, there is nothing wrong with intimacy. If I can perform my duties, we can enjoy each other in the most intimate of ways. There is no sin in that. God wants us to enjoy each other.”
Babs giggled, “For God to be happy that we are enjoying each other, I can wait. And, Harold, I know a few tricks about how to be able to perform. Dr. Mel says that your heart is sound. We are going to have some fun on our honeymoon.”
I sighed, “But, if we are gone for even a little while, the food banks will have distribution without us.”
Babs leaned in close, “Harold, the food banks worked just fine without you there. They can survive.”
And then we kissed. We had not counted Mississippis in a long time. We didn’t this time either, but if we had, we would have lost count.
Credits
All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife. We would talk about anything and everything. And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.
The “no-yes” answer comes from an old George Carlin routine. He is enacting a game show on television. I cannot remember the big money question, but I can remember the contestant. Of course, George Carlin is playing all the parts. The contestant is Tondileo Breckinridge. And Tondileo knows that she has to get the question right. The question is a yes-no question and she repeatedly says “no-yes” while the emcee corrects her by saying one or the other. Tondileo prefaces her answer differently and screws up her courage even more, but then, all she can say for an answer is “no-yes.” George Carlin had a lot of material that had no cusswords in it. His making fun of radio programming and television programming were hilarious and clean. That is until “The Seven Words that you can’t say on television” and his routines were peppered with such words after that. Oddly, his observations about the seven words are thought provoking, but you have to say the seven words to talk about them.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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