Naked
As I write this, Brian and I are vacationing in a gloriously warm Caribbean destination. We are sitting on a beach, enjoying each other's company and the beauty of God's creation. Actually more of God's creation than either of us expected.
"Hey, a full moon", Brian says. "Look" he points with his eyes.
I turned my head to find a sweet elderly couple, holding hands, emerging from the water. Completely naked.
Our beach chairs are located at the far end of our resort, adjacent to the neighboring resort's beach. It turns out that the neighboring beach is a nude beach!
I avert my eyes and try to nap. It's then that I begin to think of a verse found in Hebrews,
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we much give account." (Hebrews 4:13)
The literal translation of this phrase is, all things are stripped and stunned. Imagine an athlete in the Coliseum who has fought his best in the arena, but at the end is stripped and stunned, disarmed and disabled at the feet of his opponent.
Isn't this the position that we should approach God? A position where we surrender our struggles and forgo our attempts of self-defence or self-improvement, and come before a merciful God, uncovered and bare?
If we truly desire a deeper relationship with God then perhaps we need to come to a full realization of our nothingness and helplessness, and lay bare at the feet of Jesus.
Amazing, the truths found on a beach. Tomorrow we go to the other side! I wonder what God will reveal to us there :)
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Join me this Sunday as we begin a new series called, "Things God didn't say."
We will also take some time to properly thank Robert Dean for his time with us. Yes, there will be cake!! You will also have an opportunity to purchase his new book Leaps of Faith, Sermons from the Edge.