NaHCO3. Sodium hydrogencarbonate. This is something you probably have in your pantry. If you are scratching your head, wondering what this is, it goes by a couple of more familiar names: sodium bicarbonate (sodium bicarb, for short) or baking soda. “The prefix bi- in “bicarbonate” comes from an outdated naming system predating molecular knowledge. It is based on the observation that there is twice as much carbonate (CO2−3) per sodium in sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) as there is in sodium carbonate (Na2CO3).”1 While the origins of this special day remain a mystery, National Day Calendar has declared this day to be National Bicarbonate of Soda Day.
Most people recognize baking soda as an ingredient for cooking as it acts as a leavening agent. However, it would seem that it’s other uses are nearly unlimited.
Its mild abrasiveness has made it a valuable household cleaning product as well as finding its way into industrial use for sodablasting (similar to sandblasting) because it is gentle on softer metals.
Baking soda can be used for hygiene purposes, serving as a natural deodorant, tooth paste, mouth wash, nasal irrigate, and a wash for the eyes to treat blepharitis.
How many of us put an open box of baking soda in refrigerators and freezers? We do this to absorb odors, especially when the unit is turned off for storage.
Baking soda can be used in the laundry to eradicate tough stains and odors. In fact, during the 1940s when a nuclear bomb was being developed, the only way to wash uranium oxides out of your clothing was to wash them in baking soda.
Now, what triggered me for this devotional was the title of the day: Bicarbonate of Soda Day. The only time I’ve ever heard it called that is when baking soda is being used for heart burn and indigestion. Add ½ teaspoon baking soda to 4-ounces of water, mix, and drink. The heartburn should be gone.
Two men in the Bible had a bad case of heartburn. It was caused by Jesus! Luke 24:13-15, 27-32 gives the story. “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. (14) And they talked together of all these things which had happened. (15) And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them… (27) And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (28) And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. (29) But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. (30) And it came to pass, as he sat at meat
with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. (31) And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. (32) And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”
I don’t like the heartburn caused by pizza or Mexican foods but a little bit of heartburn has never stopped me from eating those things. I’m going to enjoy them and pop a Tums!
God’s Word makes hearts burn as they are stirred and awakened to truth. Some don’t mind the burn and will just keep feasting on the Scriptures, hungering for that burn to go even deeper and wanting to do nothing to stop it. Others, though, will wilt under the conviction and burn of the Word, shrinking from it and avoiding it. They miss out on the joy of what that burn can accomplish in their lives.
As you read your Bible today, feel the burn and rejoice in what God is doing in your life. God asks in Jeremiah 23:29, “Is not my word like as a fire?” While the context of the verse is negative, the fire of the Word is a positive to those who will receive it gladly.
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate
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