From the archives, one of our most popular posts:
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. -Genesis 1:20-23
Scientists are conceding they have grossly underestimated the quantity and diversity of marine life in the ocean. Research scientists from 80 different countries are undertaking a huge census of ocean life around the world. Called the Census of Marine Life, the census effort began in 2000, and ten years later, scientists continue to be amazed at the numbers and varieties of new species they’ve found. In the first three years of the study 160 new species of fish were found each year. That’s about 3 new species discovered every week. As the census has progressed, new species of marine life are being discovered at an even greater rate. One study found 700 new species of crustaceans in an area the size of a small bathroom. (Census of Marine Life)
In 1965, 1,168,800 tons of herring were pulled out of the North Sea. That’s somewhere around 2.3 billion herring, from just one part of the world. Think about that: 2.3 billion herring. If we’re talking about all of the fruit, all of the marine life in the ocean, this is just one species, it doesn’t include all of the other types of fish caught in the North Sea. And that’s just the North Sea, it doesn’t count all of the rest of the world. And it doesn’t even include all of the marine life that’s not caught–caught fish represent just a tiny, tiny fraction of all of the marine life in all the oceans of all the world.
When God said “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas…” we had no idea how serious He really was.
“Let the water teem with living creatures…” God said. Of course the water didn’t produce the fruit, the multiplied billions upon billions of creatures of the oceans–God did. Apart from God no fruit is born. Not during creation, nor in my life or in yours either. While Jesus walked the planet, He was the primary Person God used to perform His work here on earth. When Jesus left, he promised to send us the Holy Spirit, to help us perform God’s work. (Luke 24:49) From that point forward God’s Holy Spirit has been, and still is the primary Person God uses to perform His work here on earth. Without Him we can’t bear fruit for God’s kingdom.
So ask for the Holy Spirit. God loves you and wants you to have Him in your life. It’s Jesus’ will that the Person of the Holy Spirit come to you to help you in every dimension of life including bearing fruit for Him.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” -Jesus Christ, Luke 11:11-13
References:
[Image via: National Marine Sanctuaries Media Library – Creative Commons]
Census of Marine Life: coml.org
Chuck Smith, Living Water, The Word for Today, 2007, p 8, 287-296
Amen well said Kurt…apart from Christ we are and can do nothing.
Blessings bro
Greg