"Even the winds and the sea obey Him!" Matt. 8:27
How refreshing the salt air is as we arrive at the seashore. Each person in our group wants to be first to the water, but first someone asks the question, "How many things here remind us of God's creation? For instance, where did all this sand come from?"
Here is the answer. A microscope would reveal that sand is made up of tiny particles of rock (mainly quartz which prevents the sand from grinding to powder), seashells, bits of minerals and even material from underwater volcanos. All of this, tossed up by the waves, continually adds to the freshness and beauty of what was placed here when the world was made by the Creator. The sandy beach is also a barrier to keep the ocean from washing away the adjoining soil. Someone in our group remembers the verse, "Here shall thy proud waves be stayed" (Job 38:11).
We have arrived at the beach at low tide, and the water is way out. As we walk across the sand someone exclaims, "Look at all the pretty stones I found!" Soon everyone is searching for pretty stones. Where did they come from? The action of waves pounding rocky beaches and inflowing streams breaks and carries chunks of rock into the water. These are tumbled over and over by the waves, smoothly polishing them. Finally some of them tumble close to shore where they can be seen. Someone asks, "Isn't there a verse that says, 'For Thy pleasure they are and were created'?"
"Yes," is the answer, "in the very last verse of Rev. 4. Think what pleasure God must have as He sees all the beautiful stones He has created on beaches throughout the world."
Something else catches our attention—seashells—all kinds of them—round, oval, spiral, ribbed and smooth. Many of them have beautiful colors! Each one used to be a home for a live shellfish, and after it died the shell washed ashore. Seashells must be included in that Bible verse too.
Someone rolls over a large stone, and we see little crabs and other creatures scurrying away to find another hiding place. Some of these creatures are sand hoppers with their 14 pairs of legs. They dig furiously to escape, while aggravated sand fleas hop about. Look, there goes a seaworm, and right behind it a centipede. Do all rocks on the seashore hide these different kinds of life? Yes, usually they do. It is just a small display of the many creatures God has made that live on ocean shores.
As we walk toward the water, the shells also remind us that death follows life. For these creatures of the sand and sea, there is nothing after death. But every human being has a soul that never dies. During his life on earth, he is the only one of God's creation who has the opportunity to find God's way of preparing for the more important life that is yet to come. God's Word, the Bible, says, "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). Have you accepted this wonderful gift?
We have spent so much time watching these interesting things that we will have to wait until next week to resume our walk across the beach to the ocean.