Deeper

As you stand with your feet in the sand, the gentle waves lick your toes and the salty breeze dances in your hair. Just being so near to the ocean makes you feel the need to be still, to just quietly soak up the sights, sounds, and tastes of the sea. Something about the vastness about the ocean makes you feel small, yet significant.

I once heard that the ocean is shallow enough for a child to play, yet deep enough for a whale to swim. The ocean is a fascinating place, and to just pause with your ankles in its waves is enough to create in you a sense of awe. Yet when I stood in the shallows of the shoreline of Hawaii, I also felt a desire to know what lies in the depths. Standing at the shore draws you deeper into the ocean.

Ezekiel 47:3-5

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.

I am also reminded of an old hymn titled “The Love of God.” The imagery in the song compares the ocean to ink and the sky to a scroll. The chorus says:

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky

God’s love, deeper and wider than the ocean, is gentle enough for a child to play and deep enough for a whale to swim. His love is so great that when we stand at the edge of it, we desire to move deeper and deeper into it. His love calls us out into deeper waters, into a deeper and more intimate relationship with the Creator of all. May we move with the waves of God’s love until we are swimming in a love that is over our heads.

As the song “How He Loves” says, “If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.”