I love the sea. Something about it soothes me, having the ability to bring me tranquility in a way that nothing else can do. I’ve never been able to identify exactly what it is that touches me. I just know that some of the moments when I have felt most at peace with myself and the world have been while I stood ankle deep in the ocean feeling the contrast of my own frailty against its overpowering immensity.
I don’t fully understand my love affair with the water. I do know that it has deepened throughout my lifetime. I wonder about my sense of powerlessness over its seduction. The Psalmist said that “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” The Apostle Paul said it like this: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). God speaks clearly through what He has created. Since two thirds of the earth’s surface is water, it seems logical that there must be much to learn about our Father through it.
My relationship to Christ is similar in many ways to my relationship with the water. I find Jesus to be irresistible. I am continually and compulsively drawn to Him. Two thousand years ago He said that He would draw men to Himself (John 12:32) and that is exactly what He has done with me by an internal pull which is infinitely greater than that of the ocean.
I can’t explain or defend it to the skeptic, but by His Spirit, He has seduced me to Himself in such a way that I can never be nor want to be free of Him. I can no more understand Him than I can know all the mysteries of the sea, but I am forever captivated by His charm and enthralled by His love for me.
I have determined to just rest in Him. My choice can’t be justified in the eyes of those who don’t believe, but I am past having to justify it. Some may say that there is no ocean where one can see through crystal clear water fifty feet to the bottom, but I’ve been there. I don’t have to prove it to anybody; I know it. I know what I know. Is it a waste for a man to spend his days choosing to simply live in the presence of God through Christ? Not to me?
Do you sense this same inner call toward Christ? That pull you experience isn’t generated from within yourself. It is there because God’s Spirit is pulling you toward Jesus. He is lovingly seducing you to Himself. Respond to His love.
Determine to spend your life basking in His presence, receiving His unconditional love and sharing in His life. Allow waves of agape to wash over you, taking away all your sins, your doubts, your insecurities, your fears. The love of the Father is real. The water is fine. Come on in.
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