Reflect

Strolling along the 6 miles of beach in Punta Banda is one of my favorite vacation things to do. The brilliant blue sky above and the glistening sun on the waves take my breath away. As I walk, I notice that there are millions of broken pieces of shells littering the beach. These once full size shells have become mere fragments of what they once were. The constant pounding of the waves have chipped away, diminished and fractured the shells. Then I see it, a perfect sand dollar. After viewing multiple broken ones, a perfectly round sand dollar peeks up at me from beneath the sand. Picking it up I am amazed that this fragile sea creature could survive the treacherous voyage unto the shoreline.

Did you know that the sand dollars we see on the beach are actually the skeletons of these marvelous creatures? 

The reason that many of them survive the journey is that they were once alive!  When they crawled along the bottom of the sandy ocean these velvety purplish marine animal had no fear of being crushed by the waves. It was only when they had died that they became susceptible to the damaging effects of the oceans waves.

This is true for us as Christians as well. We have been made alive in Christ!  Like a tree planted by a river we will not wither as long as we remain in the life-giving source, Jesus.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:3

However if we disconnect from the source of life and try to do it by ourselves, we can like the sand dollar, become brittle, dry, and eventually become broken in our fragile state.

When was the last time you dipped yourself into the refreshing water of the Word?  Do you need a time of refreshing of regeneration?

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. Jeremah 31:25

 Father, help me to remember to drink your living water, to be refreshed and to dwell in you. I need your life giving power to stay alive and not become brittle.  Jann