Introduction

The Dead Sea is called the Dead Sea for a reason: it's dead. This is because of its salt content. It is the saltiest body of water on the planet, nine times saltier than the ocean. It is so salty that no fish can live in it. It is so salty that sailboats don't sail on it—and this is a big body of water, 10 miles by 50 miles. If you look out over the water, you'll never see a skier. You'll never see a wave runner skimming along the surface of the water. You will never see people building vacation homes on its banks. It's desolate. The only people who like the saltiness of the Dead Sea are first-time tourists to Israel, because they can bob in the Dead Sea. It's impossible to sink in water that is that salty. So tour buses drive there, people don swimsuits, and they go bobbing.

I've bobbed before in the Dead Sea. It's a lot of fun until you try to rinse off the salt. It gets in every nook and cranny of your body. You're miserable for a day or two afterwards. The last time my wife Sue and I went to Israel, our tour bus dropped everybody off to go bobbing. I told the bus driver, "I'll cook hot dogs for lunch with you for everybody." It was 106 degrees, and I was happier working over a grill than bobbing in the Dead Sea.

Interestingly, there is fresh water flowing into the Dead Sea continuously. The Jordan River and several other streams feed into the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea has no outlet. And because it has no outlet, the fresh water comes in and sits there idly, and the hot desert sun evaporates it all.

Our goal in this series is to keep you from becoming a Dead Sea person. What's a Dead Sea person? This is a person who receives fresh blessings, fresh resources, ...

Jim Nicodem is founder and pastor of Christ Community Church in St. Charles, Illinois.

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