For what are you thankful today – for your family, your friends, your health?
Are you thankful for LIGHTNING? You should be!
Lightning is one of nature’s most awe-inspiring and dangerous phenomenon. According to the National Weather Service, “the average lightning flash could light a 100-watt light bulb for more than 3 months! The temperature of a lightning bolt may reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, [a temperature that] is hotter than the surface of the sun!” On average, lightning is responsible for about 73 deaths per year in the United States. Therefore, we need to take cover in a lightning storm! *
But lightning also has a positive effect on our world; in fact, it helps to SUSTAIN life!
The human body has to have nitrogen to live. It is a key component of amino acids and DNA, both of which are essential to life. Nitrogen is the most common element in Earth’s atmosphere (79%), but in its gaseous form, it is unusable to plants, animals, and humans. In order for the nitrogen in the atmosphere to be “made available” to plants, animals, and humans, it has to be “fixed.” Two natural forces are responsible for “fixing” gaseous nitrogen; one of these is… LIGHTNING!
The enormous energy of lightning breaks nitrogen molecules and enables their atoms to combine with oxygen in the air forming nitrogen oxides. These dissolve in rain – forming nitrates – that are carried to the earth. Plants take up nitrates through their roots, and convert them into proteins and other compounds. Animals get their nitrogen from plants. And humans get their life-sustaining nitrogen when they eat plants (fruits, vegetables) or meat (of animals that have eaten plants). **
The amazing design of the Nitrogen Cycle is evidence of our Creator Who “made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt” (Job 28:26).
Because of His love for us, God has also provided the essential “Ingredient” for ETERNAL LIFE. Our sins bring the penalty of death and destruction (Matthew 7:13-14), but God sent His Son to die for our sins on the cross, so that we might have forgiveness and eternal life (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7).
God will give eternal life to those who will: place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38).
There are so many reasons for us to be thankful: friends, family, — even lightning! But the GREATEST reason for gratitude is the Gift of God’s Son, Who gave His life for us so that we might live!
Won’t YOU express your gratitude to God by accepting His offer of salvation on His terms?
— Eric Gray and David A. Sargent; Church of Christ at Creekwood
