Saturday-Rip Tide

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

Hebrews 13:9,10

For more than 20 years, our summer vacation was to go to the beach for a week. Starting when our daughter Jenny was six months old, we’d pack up the car and drive to Ocean City Maryland. There we’d meet up with Mary Ann’s family and just hang out in the sand and water.

Even when we moved to different parts of the country, we’d migrate back to Maryland for this annual migration of sun and fun. Each day started with surf fishing early in the morning. Because I sun burn so easily, this was my best time to take the kids to the beach and watch them while I threw my line out in vain.

Over the years, we created lots of traditions. Eating steamed crabs one night was right there at the top. So was creamed chipped beef on toast one morning for breakfast. There was the annual morning bike ride on the boardwalk. And there was the one night a week that Mary Ann and I went out for a quiet dinner all by ourselves.

And like all family gatherings, there were rules. Rule Number One was that the kids could not go to the beach without an adult. Period. They knew that the consequences of breaking this rule were just too horrible to imagine. So, fear kept them in line for all those years.

They experienced why this rule was so important. One evening as the sun was starting to fade in the west, I had beach patrol duty. So, I did what I always did: I counted kids in the water. This was immediately followed by counting the kids in the water again. And again. You get the picture.

I happened to notice that the youngest cousin had walked over to the right a little bit. But no worries, he was easily in sight. So, I just made a mental note to keep an eye on him. As I kept counting kids, he started to move further and further from shore. I stood up and started walking over to get a closer look.

As I walked over, I could see that he was struggling to come back to shore. Even through he was swimming back to the beach, he kept moving further and further away. I instantly knew what was going on. He was in a rip tide and being pulled out to sea.

Running into the water, I headed right towards him and the rip tide. As I got closer, I called out his name. When I got right up to him, I didn’t do what every red-blooded man wants to do. I didn’t grab him and pull him into shore and safety. I didn’t follow my instincts or even what I thought was right.

I did a very unusual thing. Actually, it was really unusual for me. I followed the advice of someone else. I listened to the lifeguard training that got beat into my head many summer’s before.

Swimming right up next to him, I explained in a calm tone what was happening and that everything was going to be fine. After looking at me, I told him how we both were going to do. Instead of trying to swim back to shore, we were going to relax and swim parallel to the beach for a while. Once out of the rip tide, we safely returned to shore.

The first step of surviving a rip tide is realizing that you’re in one. Next, you have to fight your natural instinct of trying to go against it. Instead of fighting it on your own, you need to listen to someone who’s a whole lot smarter. Someone with the wisdom to know that the direct approach doesn’t always work.

This is the message that the Hebrews needed. Instead of trying to fight their battles directly, they needed to listen to God’s solution. They needed to walk away from what their instincts said and do the unusual. They needed to listen to what someone a whole lot smarter and wiser had to say.

And the message for both the Hebrews and us is that we need “our hearts to be strengthened by grace.” Instead of being pulled by our emotions and the tide of our culture, we need to remain secure in who God is. Resting in all he’s done and in hope of all he’s going to do.

Of all the words that describe who God is, grace has got to be at the top of the list. How did God rescue us from the terrible problem we got ourselves into? He reached out to us and saved us through grace. And our response is to receive what he’s done. Our being saved isn’t through the things that we’ve done[1].

So many things are trying to rip us out and away from God himself. All he is and all he’s done. All he wants for us. But we can’t fight it on our own. It’s time to stop being carried away and to live life how God wants us to live. This isn’t just some blind obedience to a list of dos and don’ts. It’s saying that because God has paid for all my mistakes and sins, that I want to respond by pleasing the one who love me. To do whatever makes them happy. It’s not my will but his[2]. This is the only solution that will save us from being ripped out of his hands[3].

Noodling Questions

• List three things that try and rip you away from God? From his people.

• How can we realize that someone/something’s trying to rip us away from God?

• What’s the glue to stop us from being ripped away?

[1] Ephesians 2:8,9

[2] Luke 22:42

[3] John 10:28,29