Get Lost & Then Get Found, Or Swallowed in the Sea

I watched the coolest TV show last night. It's the Planet Earth series on the Discovery Channel. The episode I watched was filmed deep down, on the ocean floor. I was amazed by the High Definition pictures of the Dumbo Octopus and the trickery of the bottom-dwelling Monk Fish. I was awed by the darkness far below the surface of the ocean. Honestly, it was a little frightening, and I was just sitting on the couch. Of course, my thought was, "What would it be like to be there without any equipment? Just to be there." It's a hypothetical question. I'd die long before I could get there; and i wouldn't see anything if I could get there.

And yet, that is where we are. Bear with me. Imagine you are at the bottom of the sea with the monk fish, humongous crabs, and eels. What would be required for you to live? Assuming your lungs were already full of air, you'd have a few minutes (unless you're David Blaine). Then your lungs would fill with the frigid water and it would be lights out. Simply by your presence in that place, you are required to do something you are absolutely unable to do in order to live. Sound familiar?

We are in a similar situation here on dry land. As a matter of fact, our plight is much worse. We don't even have a few minutes. Simply our existance in the world of a holy God, requires something of us which we are absolutely incapable of doing. What is that thing? Being like him. We don't have the spiritual gills to pull it off. To tell people or to believe anything else is an awful lie. Can I be saved by my good deeds? You would be better off to believe you could survive underwater by only breathing a little water at time. Perhaps there is no need to be saved at all. Maybe I create my own destiny and reality as the secret would have me believe. Tell that to a drowning man. I'll bet he doesn't believe you.

The drowning man is more fortunate, though, because at least he understands his plight. At least the drowning man knows that if he doesn't get to the surface his life will end. The secret tells me to believe that I am God, and that I make the rules and the outcomes. A serpent whispered a very similar secret to a very nice naked couple once. God has asked of you the exact thing that you will never be able to accomplish. Do you realize this? That's actually the point. It's only when you realize that you are completely dependent upon the God of the universe to rip you out of the ocean of your sin and revive your dead heart that you'd even want the sort of Paradise he's preparing for you, anyway.

My friends, whether you are a believer in Christ or on the outskirts, wondering what it's all about, you need to be reminded that the secret is no secret at all. It is as clear in this gorgeous spring weather, and in the incredible ocean floor as it is in the pages of your Bible. You are not alone. You are in a world that was created for you and that Creator demands that you be like him and be like his world, which is GOOD. Unless you cry out to Christ to save you, this world will be as deadly as the pits of some undersea canyon for you. He wants you to understand that he is your sufficiency, your necessity for life. Beg him for eyes to see this reality. Ask him to save you from this grave.

Believer, run to this good news that he did IT ALL that you would be rescued out of death! Run to this truth that his grace really is sufficient for the pain, loneliness, emptiness, and monotony of life. We run to entertainment, food and drink, sex and relationships and it all becomes more and more empty. After a while, I need more and more of it just to feel normal. But he has saved you. He is saving you. He is perfecting you. Find joy in that fact! Do not forget that you were dead. Do not forget that you were at the bottom of a great ocean, crushed by its weight; the icy chill of sin filling your lungs. Do not forget that he did this. The more we think upon this truth, the more we will find ourselves in tears of joy; striving for holiness and desiring his will. Think on it. Meditate on it. Never forget. This is the good news that saves lives, that God himself came and died and rose for you if you will only believe.