Lessons from the Beach

The things you learn at the beach.

Like how you start out body surfing or boogie boarding in one spot of the Gulf and then you end up somewhere totally different. And so you have to get out of the water and walk back to where you started so that your parents can keep an eye on you. But you don't really listen, at least not well, so pretty soon, you're way down at the other end of the beach and you're totally oblivious to the fact that you don't know where your parents are. But your mom and your dad...they have their eyes on you the whole time. Why? Because you are precious to them. And you are loved. And they would do anything to make sure that you're safe. They love you more than they love themselves and so their eyes are constantly watching and waiting to see if you'll cry for help.



At one point, you get out of the water and start walking down the beach. You pass your parents, you pass the family's sand toys, you pass the umbrella and chairs, but you just keep walking. Where are you going? Do you even know? But your parents' eyes are still on you....just waiting to see where exactly you're going to go. Are you really going to walk all the way down to the pier before you realize that you're lost? But your parents come looking and asking questions and you really don't have answers. You don't really know where you were going...you were just walking....down to the pier I guess.

And as this all played out on our beach vacation, I thought of how our lives mimic exactly this. We drift away from God. But He never took His eyes off of us. He didn't move. We did. And sometimes you just have to step out of the water and back away from life a little and refocus. Put your eyes back on Him.

And sometimes you're following something, you don't even know what and it ends up taking you somewhere you didn't even know you were headed. And just like the prodigal son, soon you end up somewhere that you didn't want to be. You're at the pier...completely lost....and not sure how to get back. But God never took His eyes off of you and He's right there, waiting with open arms, just hoping you'll turn around and run towards Him. He has great things for you. After all, He'd leave 99 just to find you.

Luke 15:3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.