God Lessons in the Waves … He saves, seals and sanctifies us

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching.

Ephesians 4:13-14

In the spring of 2001, the permanent residents of Southampton Ontario, that sleepy little town my grandma lived in on Lake Huron, were taken by surprise by a find of historical significance. A man, out for a brisk stroll along the beach where I played as a child, unexpectedly came upon the ribs of an oaken warship poking out of the sand. When all the pieces were put together, the wreckage turned out to be that of the HMS General Hunter, a two mast, 54’ by 18’, ten-gun vessel. She fought valiantly in the war of 1812 for the British, until captured in 1813 by the U.S. In 1816, then privately owned, she ran aground on the shore in a violent storm. And there she remained, hidden, for 185 years.

As waves diverted the Hunter from its intended course, the winds of vain philosophies keep the baby Christian from attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

But look at how the wet sand preserved the hull of that oak sailing ship. After she was excavated by the townspeople, she was buried once again under her sandy blanket, due to the prohibitive cost of recovering and moving her to climate-controlled storage. There she will be safe until someone raises the funds to put her in the public eye.

Reminds me of the way the Holy Spirit perfectly preserves us until we all reach unity in faith and in knowledge of Jesus: It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed and delivered by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13 MSG). The cost was prohibitive—the life of Christ. One day we’ll, each one of us who believe, be mature, the fullness of Christ our measure, in the controlled climate of heaven.

In the meantime we are saved, sealed and sanctified by the sand of the Spirit, on our way to perfection, the fullness of Christ.

Nancy P