There was a pastor baptizing a young man in a river. Some people who hate Christianity were there and were shouting at the pastor. “You have polluted our holy river. We will teach you a lesson.”
River and religion: In history, it is evident that civilizations or habitations happened on the shore of a water body like a river or lake or sea. The people living in such habitations started worshiping the river or sea, as they provide livelihood or sustains life. They forgot the creator, worshiped creation. They wanted to keep such rivers as pure as possible, but always failed.
Drainage: One person asked the angry people: Does not sewerage water pollute the river? In many rivers and lakes, the sewerage water of the inhabitants is drained in such rivers. They did not answer.
Industrial effusion: Another person asked: Don’t you know that many industries situated on the banks discharge polluted water? There were many industries that discharged the dirty toxic water in the river.
Ashes of dead: One more question: Does not the dead people’s ashes pollute the river? The dead people were cremated, the ash remains were dissolved in the river.
Spiritual pollution: The person who was being baptized was expressing his faith in Lord Jesus Christ by taking baptism. All human beings are victims of Satan, contaminated by the spiritual pollution of sin. The Bible declares that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
Pollution inside: Lord Jesus Christ taught that “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23)
External purity: Many religions teach about external cleanliness, not inner holiness – pure heart, noble thoughts, blameless conscience, moral intentions, righteous attitude, compassionate heart, and right relationship.
True spirituality: The blood of Lord Jesus Christ cleanses a person from all sins and his/her conscience is clear. (I John 1:7-9; Hebrews 9:14)
(Matthew5:8) Am I pure in heart to see God?