She Seeks Seashells on the Sandy Shore

One week ago, Randy and I were enjoying the beautiful Florida sunshine. We spent five days doing what we do best on vacation. Relaxing. Resting. Lounging. We also enjoyed the spectacular hospitality of our friends, John and Rosemary.

On Tuesday, we ventured to Sanibel Island to soak up some rays, walk the beach and search for shells.  I should clarify that. Rosemary and I did the shelling. Insert smile here. I learned a lot from Rosemary. I never knew about Rice, Angel Wings, Baby's Ear, King's Crown, Jewel Box or Worms. Yes, these are all shells. Who'd a thunk it! All in all, we didn't have much success in our hunt, but we did have a grand time poking through mounds of shells along the water's edge.


Now that I'm back home, freezing in the cold Michigan winter, I took time to do a little research on my own. In a nut shell, here's what I found about sea shells. Sea shells come from marine mollusks. Mollusks are invertebrate animals; you know, the kind of animal without a skeleton. To me, I think, soft and squishy. So these poor guys kind of carry around this external "armor" for protection against predators and the outside world. The shell is formed by tissue and grows sporadically. Now I'm no marine biologist, so this may not be an entirely accurate scientific description, but it works for my simple brain.

Of course, this whole sea shell thing got me thinking about what the Bible says about protection.

What do we need protection from? Our world, for one. There's a lot of crud and corruption out there. And then there's the evil one, that crafty dude who is waiting to pounce if we leave our soft, squishy selves exposed to him. Putting my head in the sand helps me ignore what's going on around me, but leaves the rest of me vulnerable.

So how do we protect ourselves? With faith, truth, the Spirit and the word of God. Paul tells us all about it in Galatians 6:10-17:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the spiritual forces of evil int he heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Are you ready for the next high tide?