Rays of Light

Photo Credit: yhsBiology

What do peanut butter and jellyfish have to do with each other? Nothing really, but I thought it made for a catchy title. Although, people do eat jellyfish –even here in the good ole U.S.A. –but I cannot imagine why. I’ll just take God’s word for it that jellyfish is not food and steer clear of it altogether!

I have had jellyfish on my mind ever since I read a really fascinating article in the Smithsonian 40th Anniversary edition magazine entitled The New King of the Sea by Abigail Tucker. She starts by reporting that 40 million people lost their power in the Philippines in December,1999 because “Some 50 dump trucks’ worth (of jellyfish) had been sucked into the cooling pipes of a coal-fired power plant, causing a cascading power failure.”

Jellyfish, it seems, are becoming so prolific that they are literally taking over the oceans. I couldn’t help but think back to my high school days when the term jellyfish was the popular dig to taunt a coward. But there weren’t too many jellyfish in high school. Back then you never heard reports of the oceans’ “Jellyfish Gone Wild” either (National Science Foundation Report 2008).

There are many theories as to why the oceans are now teeming with jellyfish to the point that the waters are no longer safe and these mobs have become unmanageable. The most logical explanation seems to be the ever-increasing pollution of the waters which cause ‘dead zones.’ Most marine life cannot live in a dead zone but jellyfish can thrive there. Sadly, the number of coastal dead zones, according to Tucker, has doubled every decade since the 1960’s.

After reading the magazine article, I couldn’t help but compare myself to a jellyfish during the days of my life before Christ. Not just because I was afraid of my own shadow, but because I fit the general description of a jellyfish. These creatures are not only boneless, they are also brainless. They don’t think about where they are going but rather drift aimlessly at the mercy of the currents and simply survive. Yes, I was a jellyfish, living in a dead zone.

But Jesus said I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10). I am living proof that He does just that. The very moment I accepted Him and His free gift of salvation, he changed me forever. And if He did that for me, He can certainly do it for you as well.

However, too many people today –those who do not know Jesus Christ as their personal savior — are frustrated and frightened. They are watching helplessly as our world plummets into the depths of despair and becomes more unmanageable all the time. And they, like jellyfish, seem to be drifting aimlessly without hope, without courage. But we have the answers to the problems they face and it is our responsibility to share them.

Now, more than ever, the world needs to find the house of God in order and free of this world’s pollution. The Bible speaks metaphorically of people being a ‘sea.’ But much of the sea is polluted and therefore the spiritual dead zones are multiplying just like the physical ones are.

That is why God’s people have been commissioned to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

Real jellyfish cannot ever be anything but jellyfish; they will never be more than a dangerous nuisance or a piece of sushi on someone’s plate. People, on the other hand, can most assuredly become a new creation.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Tucker stated that “Jellyfish reproduce and move into new niches so rapidly that even within 40 years, some experts predict “regime shifts” in which jellyfish assume dominance in one marine ecosystem after another.”

Sadly, we are beginning to see regime shifts in America as well and we will lose our power if we are not careful. We used to be a Christian nation that sent missionaries to foreign countries to preach the gospel. To our shame, missionaries are now coming to America to preach the gospel to us. We must never let down on our foreign missions endeavors, but we must also march boldly into America’s dead zones and reclaim them for Jesus Christ!

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37 NIV). Let’s go round-up some jellyfish but rather than eating them, let’s feed them the words of life so Jesus Christ can make them into a new creation. Who’s with me?

footnote: Tucker, Abigail. The New King of the Sea. Smithsonian magazine, 40th Anniversary edition. July/Aug 2010
photo at http://yhsbiology.wikispaces.com/Scyphozoa
~~For those of you who are interested in nature, the article is very informative and well-written; the website is a wonderful resource to learn about jellyfish.