THE CLEANSING!

‘Tide Pooling’ by Jurvetson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.  

Tide pools, those pockets of saltwater left behind by the tide are fascinating, especially to children.  Is it any wonder?  According to Kids.kiddle.com, Encyclopedia for kids, about 300,000 species inhabit these pools in what is called the Intertidal Zone where the sea meets land.  This complex marine ecosystem is found on coastlines all over the world.  It is rich in nutrients and oxygen.  Crabs, shellfish, like mussels, clams and barnacles and shallow water fish call them home.  Kermit the frog said, ‘It isn’t easy being green’.  Well, it isn’t easy being a critter in these tide pools either, they have to adapt to the pounding waves, the variables in water levels, temperature and salinity (saltiness) of these pools of water.  The critters that live there either have shells that protect them, attach themselves to the rocks or bury themselves in the sand or under a rock.  Biologists say that a barnacle can stick to a rock because they secrete a fast-curing cement with a tensile strength of 5000 pounds per square inch and an adhesive strength of 22-60 pounds per square inch.  One of the strongest glues in the world!       

The gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the earth creates the tides, the alternate rising and falling of the sea twice a day.  The rising and falling of the tides create the tide pools.  The sea water alternating between filling and emptying them helps to remove pollutants and brings in fresh oxygen and nutrients the ocean plants and animals need to survive.  The range from high to low tide varies along the shoreline, usually only a couple of feet to a whopping 40 feet on the coast of the Bay of Fundy in Canada!

The tide pool is another perfect metaphor for us!  What sustains us?  What removes pollutants from us and provides the nourishment we need to survive?  What glue keeps us hanging on when we are ‘chastened and scourged?’  Like the critters in a tide pool, we too are given what we need to survive.  But it’s not just ‘bread’ that provides nourishment.  In Jesus words, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’  Matthew 4:4. He also said, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’
John 6:35.

And He uses His words to ‘cleanse us’ of pollutants.  It is Gods plan to make the church that we are part of ‘holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.’  Ephesians 5:26-27.  And individually, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, if we confess our sins.  1 John 1:9, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ 1 John 1:9. NKJV.  It sure sounds like a tide pool to me!  Not only does He ‘cleanse’ the tide pool and you and me, but He does it with powerful waves in a tide pool and His ‘chastening and scourging’ of you and I. ‘For whom the Lord loves He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives.’  Hebrews 12:6.  But like the plants and shells in the tide pool we will not be shaken loose because ‘No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.’  
1 Corinthians 10:13.

God is always working on us…He brings us life, nutrients and cleansing and we can be confident that ‘He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ’.  Philippians 1:6.

THANK GOD!  I need all the help I can get!

Watching the waves crashing on the ocean shore, I wrote the following poem regarding the Holy Spirit:

Oh Restless One
Wash over me
Bring me life

Sustain me with your beauty
Forever

Shape me
Make me
What you want me to be.   MRB.