I remember the first time I stepped into the ocean. Dave had accepted military orders to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the summer of 2004. Shortly after arriving, we ventured to Onslow Beach for a day of sun and boogie boarding in the warm and inviting Atlantic Ocean. Excited to be at the beach, I quickly waded out up to my waist (which anyone that knows me, knows that’s not very deep) into the dark gray waters. Before I realized it, I had been knocked off my feet, caught between the waves and the swirling undercurrents. Startled, but quickly regaining my footing, I realized the ocean expected and demanded respect.

Fast forward to the summer of 2020. One of the most popular white sand beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii is Magic Sands; affectionately nicknamed “Tragic Sands” or “Tragic Slams”. As the names suggest, this beach is known for maiming and/or paralyzing numerous beach goers, due to its strong shore break and exposed rocks along either side of the narrow slice of paradise.

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It is impossible to not stand in awe as you watch the conflicting personality of the sea; serene, powerful, peaceful, terrifying, beautiful, inspiring. One minute the waters are a calm, turquoise blue, inviting you in. A split second later, they are a tumultuous, swirling, sandy brown; relentlessly grasping at your heels trying to drag you under. But with every wave, whether a gentle lapping or a thunderous crash, the sand on the shore is instantly ironed out like a freshly pressed bed sheet.

As I sat on the beach watching the sun kiss the horizon and the waves erase the memories of the day, I was struck with a well-known verse:

Our sins are washed away and we are made clean, because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God. He did this once for all time.

Hebrews 10:10

No matter how many sandcastles, beach chairs, or toes have left their imprints throughout the day, all traces disappear with the incoming of the tide. Similarly, the Lord forgives us of our sins without hesitation, as soon as we ask. No matter how many times we have screwed up or faltered and fallen; his forgiveness washes over our lives, making us once again a new creation in him.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Isn’t it humbling that the same God who controls the waves of the oceans and paints the sky in brilliant hues, cared enough for you and I to send his only son, so we could receive his gift of forgiveness and salvation? How greatly are we loved that each day we begin anew and his love endures forever?