Shark Infested Waters

A Christian is not a person who believes in his head the teachings of the Bible. Satan believes in his head the teachings of the Bible! A Christian is a person who has died with Christ, whose stiff neck has been broken, whose brazen forehead has been shattered, whose stony heart has been crushed, whose pride has been slain, and whose life is now mastered by Jesus Christ.  John Piper

Many years ago my husband was in sales and he received an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas.  We stayed at a place called Atlantis.  This was probably the largest hotel I have ever stayed in.  This is a 141 acre property with several hotel towers, multiple pools, a shopping mall, casino, a lazy river and an underground tunnel system that contains 20,000 varieties of tropical fish and aquatic wildlife. 
 
This place was like nothing I had ever seen before.  The underground tunnels were filled with fish tanks that were created to look like undersea life.  There were sharks and lionfish, stingrays and grouper.  One of my favorite photos from that trip was me sitting on a rock next to a shallow water pool and in the water was a large hammerhead shark. I could literally reach back and trail my fingers through the water where this shark rested.  That is how close you could get to the wildlife.  In the morning we would get up and sit on our balcony and watch the divers feed the stingrays in the shallow pools that covered the grounds.
 
When I thought of this long ago vacation it made me think of the sharks that I saw on that trip.  The sea creatures on the grounds of the hotel were fed daily by divers.  I am thinking they did that so if you accidently fell in they wouldn’t make you their next meal. But we also took a photo of a sign next to a lagoon that read “No Swimming, Shark Infested Waters”.  This reminded me of Satan and the way he works in our lives.  If we don’t cling to God with everything we have in us, Satan is there waiting to get us into shark infested waters.  We become easy prey, bait fish for a bigger predator.  Maybe the sign should read “No Sinning, Satan Infested Waters”.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You daily for your protection from Satan.  He is literally prowling the earth looking for someone to devour and I for one don’t want to be his next meal.  Help me to navigate the dangerous waters where he waits to prey on me if I let my guard down and become complacent.  You are my Savior and King.      

Scripture:  And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”  But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”  Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”  Luke 22:31-34