Plastic is one of the most versatile materials in the world. Plastics can be made as hard as stone, strong as steel, transparent as glass, and elastic as rubber. Plastics are also lightweight, waterproof, resistant to chemicals and bacteria, and can be produced in a rainbow of colors. At night many of us sleep on mattresses and under blankets made of plastic materials. In the morning, we step out of bed onto polyester and nylon carpets. Plastics are used in the computers we use, the utensils we cook with, the toys we play with, the buildings we work in, and the cars we drive.


For example, the average car contains over 300 pounds of plastics—approximately eight percent of the vehicle’s overall weight! Telephones, textiles, paints, boats, furniture, and thousands of other products are made of plastic. In fact, by 1979 the volume of plastics produced in the United States surpassed the volume of steel produced.

Where does all this plastic come from? Most plastic is chemically fabricated from fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas. And where did all that gas and oil come from? Our earth’s great reserves of fossil fuel were formed from organic matter that lived before Noah’s flood. As the tremendous forests of the antediluvian world, lush with plants and teeming with animal life—including dinosaurs—were destroyed by the flood, the wind and currents pushed their debris into immense heaps. These deposits were buried under deep layers of mud and silt, which gradually hardened into rock. After 4,000 years of heat and pressure, these enormous pockets of compost were compressed and transformed into great fields of coal, oil, and natural gas. That’s right—the car you drive is not running on horsepower but dino-power! And your computer is made of ancient ferns! It’s amazing to consider that so many of our modern plastic products are made from ancient plants and animals.

God is a master at converting matter. He turned water to wine and sticks to snakes. God even turned a woman into salt! But God’s most amazing conversions are the ones He works on human hearts--He turned a greedy tax collector into a generous giver, and a demon-possessed maniac into a missionary. Does your heart need a conversion today? All God needs is your permission.



KEY BIBLE TEXTS
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26