If you have ever been to the beach, you have undoubtedly seen the ridge of sand that lies between the beach and the land behind it. Sand dunes are formed over many years when windblown sand gets trapped by beach grasses or other vegetation. These dunes play a vital role in protecting both the adjacent beach and the inland areas behind them. In addition, dunes provide nesting habitat for coastal and migratory birds. In some areas, man-made dunes are created by bulldozing piles of sand to the back of the beach. At the beach that was nearest our home in North Carolina, each year local residents were asked to drop off the Christmas trees that would then be used build up and fortify the dunes.

We all have protective sand dunes, helping to protect us from harm. We put on suntan lotion to keep us from getting sunburned. We use bug spray to keep us from being bitten by mosquitoes and other insects. We wear hats and gloves in sub-freezing weather to avoid frostbite. To protect our yards and homes we install fencing and security systems. Hopefully you wear your seat belt when riding in a vehicle. I am inclined to do dumb stuff; thankfully, I have a wife who repeatedly acts as a dune, keeping me from harming myself or others.

One danger that many of us fail to protect ourselves against is the enemy of God, known as Satan; also referred to as the devil. [The Bible uses other names as well. Here are just five – accuser, adversary, evil one, father of lies, thief.] How Satan came to be Satan is for another day, but in my opinion, the Bible is clear that Satan does exist, and loves nothing more than to trick us, tempt us, and draw us into sinful behavior; behavior that ultimately harms us and others.

The vast majority of us have dunes in place to keep us from committing murder or robbing a bank. Where we often fail is in those things we categorize as “little” dangers; things like gossip, lust, greed, pride, stealing Post-It Notes from our employer, little white lies. Those little dangers (sins) are dangerous, no less so than the ones we consider to be big. And often when we at our strongest, it is those times that we are also at our weakest spiritually.

A good illustration of this is King David. As king, he was enjoying unprecedented success, fame, and wealth. He was seemingly invincible. Or so he thought. I am sure you are familiar with the story found in 2 Samuel 11 in which as David stood on his rooftop he saw a beautiful woman bathing, and if you know that story (even if you don’t), it went downhill from there.          

Think of it like this. We all know to lock our front door to provide safety from the big and obvious dangers. But, so often, we fail to lock our back door, thus allowing Satan quiet, and often unnoticed, access to our lives. If you are a Jesus-follower, every single day you are in a spiritual battle for your soul. Thankfully, you do not fight that battle alone. God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is your personal sand dune, protecting you from Satan’s dangers. We find these words in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 – “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”

Jesus, in showing us how to pray, offers this – “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

The apostle Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God as a sand dune against the schemes of Satan (Ephesians 6:10-11).   

So, do you have a sand dune built into your life to help keep you safe? And, because life erodes away at that dune, are you continually striving to keep that dune built up and fortified? Right now, ask the Holy Spirit to be your sand dune while keeping your eyes and ears open, looking for, and fleeing from, the dangers that lurk all around you.

How well do you know plants? Here is a quiz.

Do all plants have leaves? Do all plants have flowers? And do all plants have roots? If you answered yes to the question of whether all plants have leaves you would have been wrong. Leaves are defined as having veins (vasculature), so plants such as ferns and algae that lack veins don’t technically have leaves. If you said that all plants have flowers, you would have been wrong again. There are a number of non-flowering plants; plants such as horsetails, ferns, conifers, and mosses. These non-flowering plants reproduce by spores rather than by seeds or pollen from flowering plants.

And if you answered that all plants have roots, you would once again be incorrect. Single-celled plants that float on water, namely green algae and some varieties of seaweed, do not have roots and they absorb water and minerals through their all their parts rather than through roots.   

If you have ever tried to dig out a bush from your yard, you know that the root system usually seems to go deep and wide. The removal of the bush above the ground is often “easy” while removing the root system usually ends up being a long and tiring process. You might even think to yourself, “How can this little bush have such a big root system?” But without this complex system of epidermis, root hairs, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, and vascular tissues, the plant you are removing would not be a living plant – it would be an assortment of dead brush. 

Other than water-floating plants, roots are critical for plant growth and survival. Roots serve several functions: anchor and support the plant, absorb and distribute water and minerals, storage of carbohydrates, sugars and proteins for winter survival of perennials, propagation (creation of new plants), and help to prevent soil erosion.

Just as plants need energy from sunlight, carbon dioxide from the air, and water and minerals to be absorbed and distributed by their roots to thrive and survive, they also need the roots to support and anchor them in all kinds of weather conditions. We human beings also face all kinds of conditions that threaten our foundation. Life is filled with expected and unexpected twists and turns, periods of drought that leave us feeling dry and parched, seasons of endless rain that cause us to feel as if we are drowning, and canyons that seem too wide for us to cross.

Without roots to feed them, plants will die, and without roots to anchor them, they will not survive droughts or hurricanes. Without being firmly grounded in Jesus, we too will not find nourishment and strength to sustain us through life’s never-ending cycles of prolonged periods of either not enough or too much rainfall. In Scripture we see a comparison between trusting in man (and manmade things) and trusting in God. Click here to read Jeremiah 17:5-8.

So, where do you find your nourishment and strength? How deep and how wide do your roots go?

Dear Father, grant us all the gift of increased faith so we can have roots that go deep and wide. Amen.

While the characters in this story are fictitious, the story itself is about every one of us, because… there is a little bit of Tom in all of us.

There was a young couple who went to Virginia Beach on their honeymoon. I will call them Tom and Becky. Becky had a real relationship with Jesus while Tom attended church with her, but was still investigating what it meant to have faith in Jesus.

On Saturday evening as they were walking on the boardwalk they saw a poster that indicated there would be a church service on the beach, near the fishing pier, the next morning. As it was with most church-related things, Becky was interested in going while Tom was thinking about sleeping in the next morning, but because he wanted to be a good newlywed husband, he agreed to attend with her.

The next morning, they woke up early, Becky excitedly so, Tom rather reluctantly. After breakfast they headed to 14th Street and made their way to be beach. About 75 people had already gathered, all dressed casually, many in beach attire. The service began with a small band playing a several worship songs, not music Tom had heard in church before. People were singing and dancing, several even tossing a beach ball back and forth. Tom was very surprised to see that most of the people in attendance actually looked like they were enjoying the experience. He was used to church being somber.

After the worship band stopped playing, a barefooted young man stepped to the microphone and welcomed the crowd, gave a few instructions, then prayed. This prayer was different than what Tom was accustomed to. This prayer seemed like a conversation between the man and God, whereas Tom was used to prayers being formal and filled with lots of spiritual words. After the prayer, a woman in shorts and flip flops got up and gave a message on what it means to have a real relationship with Jesus, to seek after Him with all your heart. The sermon had stories and jokes and Tom felt as if the preacher was talking to him.

Something pricked Tom’s heart and after the service was over he asked Becky to go with him to talk to the preacher about her message. Becky was pleasantly surprised; in fact, she was hoping this would be the moment in which Tom would commit his life to Jesus. Tom only had one question for the woman – He asked, “You said we need to desire God more than anything else in life. What does that really mean?” The woman preacher gave a surprising answer. She said to Tom, “Walk down to the end of the boardwalk towards Rudee Inlet and look for an old man who spends his days sitting on the beach; he is usually shirtless and well-tanned, with long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail. Ask him that question.”

That seemed like a strange answer but Becky and Tom grabbed some lunch and headed off to find the old man. They quickly found him, sitting on a rock near the inlet, feeding the seagulls. After introducing themselves, Tom said, “The beach preacher told me to find you because you would explain to me what it means to seek after God with all my heart.”

Without saying a word, the old man motioned for Tom to follow him and they walked into the ocean, first up to their ankles, then their knees, and soon they were standing in water chest deep. Suddenly the old man pushed Tom’s head under the water and held him there. Ten, fifteen, twenty seconds went by and soon Tom was running out of oxygen. After what seems like minutes, Tom was angry and he exploded up out of the water, yelling at the old man, “What were you doing, trying to drown me?” Again, without talking, the old man began walking back to the shoreline, motioning Tom to follow him.

Once they got to the beach, the old man finally spoke. He asked Tom, “When you were under the water, what is the one thing you desired most?” Tom yelled back, “Oxygen!” The old man then said to Tom, “When you want Jesus like you wanted oxygen, you will find Him.” With that, he turned and walked away from Tom and Becky.    

Deuteronomy 4:29 tells us this, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Proverbs 8:17 reads like this, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me.”

So today I ask you, how passionately are you seeking after God?