Devotion #5: Seashells by the Seashore

I love the beach. I love everything about it, from sunrise to sunset. My quiet time with God usually consists of long walks in the morning. It gives me a sense of humility, given the vastness of the ocean. I spend a lot of time looking for shells, hoping to add to my collection. On our trip this summer, there were not many to find. Looking down the beach, I could see piles of washed-up pieces, but only a few were intact. I started thinking about the journey and where they came from. The shells roll in from the depths of the ocean and, at high tide, find their final resting place on the sandy beach. I sometimes wonder what their journey was like. There are so many that could not hold up to the intense crashing of the waves and they were crushed. Finally, I found one that is perfect, fragile, and whole. What was the path that protected it? 

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” We are all sinners walking the journey through this life. Some paths lead to destruction, but there is only one path that leads to salvation. There are those who would say, “Simply being a good person and doing good deeds qualifies me for Heaven.” There are others who say there are many paths. Romans 3:10 clearly disagrees with those sentiments, “None is righteous, no, not one.” Paul makes the point that we are all accountable to God, and not even the Jews will be declared righteous in God’s sight even though they were striving to observe the Law. 

John MacArthur put it this way: “Whether you’re an immoral man, or a moral man or a religious Jew, you’re under the same condemnation. They’re all sinners. One is no better than the other. One may have the law of God written, one may have the law of God in conscience, but when it comes to guilt before God, they’re all the same and they all need salvation.” 

Romans 3:20 adds, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” The Law does not justify us, but through the Law, we can become aware of how unrighteous we are and aware of our own sin. Paul explains that the only way to be righteous in the eyes of God, apart from the Law, is through our faith in Christ. Our paths all start out the same; we are sinners. There is only one path that leads to righteousness; it is by following Jesus and His Word that we can find our wholeness. 

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105