Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
March, 20, 2012

“Be On Your Guard ” (Part Two)
“Above all else, guard your heart….” – Proverbs 4:23

Yesterday’s message introduced us to a beautiful illustration/story from the book, “The Journey of Desire: The Journey We Must Take to Find the Life God Offers” by John Eldredge. The name of the story is “The Sea Lion Who Lost the Sea.”
The story revolves around a Sea Lion that somehow found himself separated from the source of his existence—the sea. He knew it existed—he could smell it and he knew its scent. He searched and searched but for whatever reason was unable to locate it. When we left the forlorn Sea Lion, the last line was: “…the sea was calling him.” Here is part two:

The sea lion loved his rock, and he even loved waiting night after night for the sea breezes that might come. Especially he loved the dreams those memories would stir. But as you well know, even the best of dreams cannot go on, and in the morning when the sea lion woke, he was still in the barren lands. Sometimes he would close his eyes and try to fall back asleep. It never seemed to work, for the sun was always very bright.
Eventually, it became too much for him to bear. He began to visit his rock only on occasion. “I have too much to do,” he told himself. “I cannot waste my time just idling about.” He really did not have so much to do. The truth of it was, waking so far from home was such a disappointment, he decided he did not want to have those wonderful dreams anymore. The day finally came when he stopped going to his rock altogether, and he no longer lifted his nose to the wind when the sea breezes blew.
The sea lion was not entirely alone in those parts. For it was there he met the tortoise. Now this tortoise was an ancient creature, so weathered by his life in the barren lands that at first, the sea lion mistook him for a rock. He told the tortoise of his plight, hoping that this wise one might be able to help him. ‘Perhaps,’ the tortoise mused, ‘this is the sea.’ His eyes appeared to be shut against the bright sun, but he was watching the sea lion very closely. The sea lion swept his flippers once against his side, gliding to the end of the water hole and back. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It isn’t very deep.’ Somehow, I thought the sea would be broader, deeper. At least, I had hoped so.’ ‘You must learn to be happy here,’ the tortoise told him one day. ‘For it is unlikely you shall ever find this sea of yours.’ Deep in his shriveled heart, the tortoise envied the sea lion and his sea.
‘But I belong to the sea. We are made for each other.’
‘Perhaps. But you have been gone so long now, the sea has probably forgotten you.’
This thought had never occurred to the sea lion. But it was true, he had been gone for a long, long time. ‘If this is not my home, how can I ever feel at home here?’ the sea lion asked. ‘You will in time.’ The tortoise appeared to be squinting, his eyes a thin slit. ‘I have seen the sea, and it is no better than what you have found here.’
‘You have seen the sea?’
‘Yes. Come closer,’ whispered the tortoise, ‘and I will tell you a secret. I am not a tortoise. I am a sea turtle. But I left the sea of my own accord, many years ago, in search of better things. If you stay with me, I will tell you stories of my adventures.’
The stories of the ancient tortoise were enchanting and soon cast their spell upon the sea lion. As weeks passed into months, his memory of the sea faded. ‘The desert,’ whispered the tortoise, ‘is all that is, or was, or ever will be.’ When the sun grew fierce and burned his skin, the sea lion would hide in the shade of the tree, listening to the tales woven by the tortoise. When the dry winds cracked his flippers and filled his eyes with dust, the sea lion would retreat to the water hole. And so the sea lion remained, living his days between water hole and tree. The sea no longer filled his dreams. The Book of Psalms is often thought of in terms of some of the world’s greatest poetry. I do not believe that was the initial intent—they were created from the heart of individuals seeking to reach into the heart and mind of the Living God. One of the greatest of the Psalms (to me) without question is Psalm 139. Verse 14 says: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” What that tells me is that we are uniquely created by God and we are linked together with Him as no other creature in this world. That is why I really love the one line in this portion of the story where the Sea Lion says, “…I belong to the sea. We were made for each other.”
I am not sure exactly what Mr. Eldredge had in mind when introducing the tortoise into the story but I think we could very easily see him as the devil—trying to convince us that we are just fine without God. The turtle was trying to convince the Sea Lion that what he saw and the way he was living was all that what was—there was no need to look any further!
We were made to worship and serve God—period! Just as the Sea Lion was created to live in the sea we were created to worship, and when that is not happening we are the ones that lose out! Guard your heart (as Solomon says) from those voices that would keep you from dreaming about being God’s best—guard it from those who say we are better off without Him. It is not the truth.

Pastor J. T. Carnell