It was a cool summer night. The wind off the ocean was pure perfection. The sand was cool beneath our feet and with the sound of each crashing wave you could feel the tide just pull your stress level out to sea. The moon was huge and even appeared as if someone had lassoed a rope around it and pulled it closer to Earth. It seemed as if you could just reach way up high on your tippy toes and actually touch. The "Man in the Moon" was smiling as he watched everyone along the shore that night.
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As we tossed our shoes at the pier and began to walk with flashlights and buckets in hand we were hunters of the night...hunters of the sand crabs. There was a slew of us there; Shane, the kids, my parents, my sister and her girls (the boys weren't even thought of yet).
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As we walked along the beach we all talked amongst ourselves as the kids ran ahead of us shining the flashlights back and forth searching for sand crabs. "I've got one" they yelled. As the adults finally made their way to the circle that the kids had formed you could see this crab trying to burrow itself back into the sand. With each dig sand was flinging everywhere. Gabe and Jessi (each 1 year old) were squealing and Lauren and Kristina (3 and 6 at the time) were jumping around clapping their hands.
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As the "grown ups" approached the group we all started staring and poking at this crab. My Daddy reached down to pick it up and show the kids a crab up close and personal when all of a sudden one of those pinchers got the best of him and grabbed hold. The kids started screaming and the adults started laughing.
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Now that everyone knew exactly what we were looking for the adults were nearly running to stay caught up with the kids when all of a sudden Shane found one. As he shined the light down towards the sand the crab began to move. Remembering that my Daddy had just been pinched a few minutes before Shane was trying to make sure that he stayed in front of the crab yet keeping it illuminated so that the kids could see it. About that time, the crab decided to jump towards Shane which in turn made Shane start jumping and dancing around like Pinocchio. Shane is six foot two and just as lanky as he can be so as he jumped and danced around all you could see was knees and elbows. With every jump and unchoreographed dance move he would squeal like a little girl. The more he jumped the more the crab moved and the more the crab moved the more he jumped around. The kids were squealing the adults were laughing and my Momma at one point stopped breathing I think from laughing so hard. My ribs hurt with laughter just thinking about that moment.
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You know, sin is like that sand crab. It is white just like the sand and walks towards you sideways trying to disguise itself so that you never see it coming. Although you are shining your flashlight back and forth, back and forth we oftentimes want to stop and inspect it, check it out just a little bit. But, the Bible tells us not to do that...the Bible tells us to turn our flashlights towards God. "...repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away." Acts 3:19 (NLT).
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Listen girlfriend, if you are finding yourself in a situation today where you are holding a flashlight examining a sand crab may I urge you today to jump and dance around while you RUN away! Don't allow something that seems so harmless and pretty from the outside suck you in to only pinch you in the end!
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