NaCl

Thanks to my friend Tim Brown, tonight I was proved wrong:  salt water does not help you tan.  I was under the impression my entire life that the salt gave an extra lil somethin to the water that helped in the sun's reflection process.  Nope.  Only the water helps you tan more.  The addition of salt does nothing for us.

We add things to our lives constantly, thinking they will help.  We add activities to our otherwise boring days.  Money to our savings accounts.  Vacations to our hectic lives.  Clothes to our closets.  Caffeine to our morning routines.

And just like caffeine, the additive has a short-term effect.  We feel good for a little, but it soon wears off.  And suddenly we build a tolerance and need more of that thing just to keep us at baseline.

The salt only leaves our skin sticky and our hair frizzy.  The water has the power to wash away the dirt, but after being in the ocean we know that we need a shower immediately anyway.  I thought the salt would be beneficial to the water--an aid to my tan--but it only gave me more dirty laundry.

I remember learning in chemistry that when salt (NaCl) is added to water it forms a strong ionic bond and becomes sodium chloride solution.  The salt can only then be separated if the substance is boiled and the water evaporates--leaving the salt behind.  It's an easy task to add the salt to water, but a complicated one to remove it.  It's easy to add things to our lives, but how often do we mutter "okay" without resistance if God tries to take that thing from us?  It's a hard bond to break.  Might as well have not even gambled with the chance at dirty laundry.

Leave the salt out.  Come to the water, just as you are.  Stop trying to do God's job for him.  Stop trying to add things to your life because you think you know best.  Only the pure, raw, natural water can do the job of satisfying us and purifying us.