THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 4, NUMBER 4, JANUARY 25, 2004

THERE IS A SEA

There is a sea which day by day
Receives the rippling rills.
And streams that spring from wells of God,
Or fall from cedared hills; 
But what it thus receives it gives
With glad unsparing hand.
A stream more wide, with deeper tide,
Flows on to lower land.

There is a sea which day by day
Receives a fuller tide;
But all its store it keeps, nor gives
To shore nor sea beside.
Its Jordan stream, now turned to brine,

Lies heavy as molten lead.
Its dreadful name, doth e’er proclaim
That seas is waste and dead.

            The two seas along the Jordan River in Palestine are the setting for the above verses by Lula Klingman Zahn.  The first verse refers to the Sea of Galilee.  It is fed by the Jordan River from the north.  Unger’s Bible Dictionary says that “the lake is distant from Jerusalem about sixty miles; it is from eighty to one hundred and sixty feet deep, and is abundant with fish.  Its waters are blue and sweet.”

            “But what it thus receives it gives.”  That is, the Sea of Galilee sends forth “a stream more wide” to the south.  And the Jordan “flows on to lower land” at the rate of sixty feet per mile.

            The second verse of the song refers to the Salt Sea.  Since the second century it has been called by the “dreadful name,” Dead Sea.  The Jordan and four or five smaller streams pour six million tons of water into the sea each day.  “But all its store it keeps, nor gives to shore beside.”  It has no outlet, but is relieved by evaporation, often so great as to form very heavy clouds.  Due to this evaporation the sea is very bitter.  The water is very nauseous to the taste and oily to the touch, leaving upon the skin, when it dries, a thick crust of salt.  Truly the Dead Sea “lies heavy as molten lead.”

            But what is the point of singing a hymn about the geography of Palestine?  How can we be edified by learning facts about these bodies of water?  The lesson is a great one, and should cause each of us to examine his own life in comparison to the two seas.

            As both the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are fed by the waters of the Jordan, we are fed by the gracious hand of God.  “For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).  “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).  But what do we do with our many blessings?  Do we share with others, sending out from us “a stream more wide?” Or do we selfishly keep all we receive like the Dead Sea?

            When Jesus gave His apostles certain spiritual gifts which could benefit others, He said, “Freely ye received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8).  They were not to be selfish but generous.

“So then, as we have opportunity,” Paul exhorted, “let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10).  The Christian should “labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need” (Eph. 4:28).  As we receive the refreshing waters of blessings from the river of God’s love, let us send out a stream of good works to those around us.

The third verse of the song reminds us of the supreme gift Christ gave us, and asks,

Which shall it be for you and me
Who God’s good gifts obtain?
Shall we accept for self alone,
Or take to give again?
For he who once was rich indeed
Laid all his glory down.
That by his grace our ransomed race
Should share his wealth and crown.

Selected…

SERVANT

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ…”  These words appear in the first verse of the letter to the Romans.  Paul was writing to a church composed of people he did not know personally.  He was writing to a church located in the greatest city in the world, the capital of the greatest empire in the world.  Naturally, he begins by presenting his credentials.  One of those was that he was a servant of Jesus Christ.

The word translated “servant” is the Greek word “doulous”.  It is also translated at various times as bondservant or slave.  Paul thought of himself as the slave of Jesus Christ.  He was a bondservant, bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and belonged completely to Jesus.  No longer was he free to indulge in his own pleasures and desires.  As a “slave of Jesus Christ” his duty was to do what Jesus commanded of him.

We too are “servants of Jesus Christ.”  We have been bought with a price and belong completely to Jesus.  Our work is to do the will of the Lord and to do it without complaint.  Considering what Jesus gave to purchase us to be His slave is not a burden, it is a great honor.

  Greg Litmer