A Mess of Olympic Proportions

The city of Beijing is scrambling to clean up its mess before the 2008 Summer Olympics. When Beijing was selected to host the ’08 Games, the Chinese Government promised to get the city’s pollution in check and to comply with air quality standards set by the World Health Organization. However, with just weeks to go, the air is still so polluted it poses a health risk to Olympic athletes and spectators.

So, in a last ditch effort the city has poured over $16 billion dollars into halting the haze. Factories have been closed, commuters are only permitted to drive their vehicles every other day and construction projects have come to a screeching halt. They are even firing artillery shells into the sky filled with a chemical thought to trigger rain showers, hoping a good rain will help clean the air.

Here’s what gets me. For decades, the Chinese government has allowed this problem to exist and worsen. Concern for the health of it’s citizens has been far outweighed by China’s desire to become a world power. How sad for the people of China that it’s only now, when the rest of the world is watching, that Beijing is taking drastic steps to end pollution.

This situation kind of reminds me of the way I approached my faith when I was a teenager. I knew about God and I knew that I was not behaving in a Godly way. But, I also figured that I was a teenager and I had plenty of time to get my act together and get serious about being a Christian. What foolishness!

Here’s the bottom line…we all have souls that are clouded with spiritual filth. There is only one way to clean it up, and that is by accepting the gift of forgiveness that Jesus has to offer. Unlike Beijing, we do not know when our deadline is…tomorrow is not even a guarantee, so be ready.

Remember Jesus’s words in Matthew: Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

So, are you ready?