In those days, during elementary school, we were thought that air is a mixture of gases. Oxygen is the most important gas, as all living things need it to survive. Yet, we were told that oxygen only accounts for 21% of air. Nitrogen, which on the other hand, wasn’t necessary for respiration accounts for a whooping 78% of air. I always wondered why this was so. At least, it was only logical for the ‘most important’ gas to be the most abundant by percentage!
But as important as oxygen is, it’s very combustible. If the percentage of oxygen were to be any more than it currently is, every rock that has been heated by the sun would spontaenously go up in flames. And this is where the importance of nitrogen comes into play: Nitrogen, due to its non-combustible nature, slows down the combustible activities of oxygen. Thus, oxygen can support both life and combustion, without things getting out of hand.
In life, we meet people with ‘combustible’ characteristics. They are the bubbly people that like to make things happen. They are usually risk takers. And they are an embodiment of life. I’d call these ones the ‘Oxygen’ people. On the other hand, we meet people who aren’t as charismatic as those aforementioned. They have a cooler approach to life. They could be overly calculative. I’d call these the ‘Nitrogen’ people.
The TRUTH is that God is a God of variety. David, Peter, Barnabas, Paul, John all had different characteristics. He made everyone to be unique and different from others. Imagine how life would have been if everyone were to be of the ‘combustible’ nature. The whole world be on fire. Literally! Conversely, if everybody were to be of the ‘cooler’ nature, the whole world would be dry and colourless. So, does this mean that an ‘Oxygen’ person is better than the ‘Nitrogen’ counterpart or vice versa? No. None of these things makes one category of people to be more important than the other. Instead, we are all required to act to the strengths of our characters and live together in unity.
