The Call of the Ocean

July 7 2010
About two weeks ago my roommate and I headed to the beach one rather rainy, dreary Saturday and enjoyed a quiet day there reading, writing, and swimming. Swimming in the pool, not the ocean that is. I took a stroll along the ocean and found myself mesmerized by the violent waves that were crashing into the shore. In the time that I walked one length of the beach and began to return to my starting point, the tide was rising and I had to move closer to land. I knew that I could not even begin to fathom the power behind those waves. They had warned us at the entrance that the ocean was dangerous that day with its currents and the pull of the tide. The shoreline was strewn with large pieces of driftwood that had been washed ashore but were still buffeted by the waves from time to time.

As I walked along the ocean’s edge, I found myself wanting to enter into the water more than just ankle deep. It was as if the waves and water were calling me deeper. But I knew to enter in was just plain foolishness. A motorboat that had been trying to get past the point where the waves were breaking had struggled and I have less power than that for sure. And so although I wanted to try the waves and see how dangerous they really were, I kept walking and returned to my point of observation. My mind wandered a bit as I considered analogies and I realized that sin can have that same pull. Though we know better and good judgment says to stay far away, there can still be a strong pull, especially when we get to close to the place of temptation in the first place. The closer I got to the water, the more I wanted to get in and see just how well I could withstand the waves. And so I was reminded to stay far away from those things which tempt me to walk in the ways contrary to God’s calling on my life and his commands.