Two Seas

Morning Devotional
August 15, 2011

“Two Seas”
by Don Emmitte

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:24-28 ESV).

I have been able to travel to Israel twice. It is one of the most incredible places in the world. There are so many things that you may learn while visiting the sacred sites and seeing the places of the Bible come alive.

Just one of those lessons concerns the two seas in Israel. The Sea of Galilee is a fresh water sea and there are numerous fish in it. Splashes of green adorn its banks. Trees spread their branches over it and stretch out their thirsty roots to sip of its healing waters. Along its shores the children play, as children played when Jesus was there. He loved it. He could look across its silver surface when He spoke His parables. And on a rolling plain not far away He fed five thousand people.

The River Jordan, which begins in the high mountains to the north, feeds this sea with sparkling clean water. It is so clear that you can see to the bottom at its headwaters. Men build their houses near to it, and birds build their nests; and every kind of life is happier because it is there.

The River Jordan flows on south into another sea. Here is no splash of fish, no fluttering leaf, no song of birds, and no children's laughter. Travelers choose another route, unless on urgent business. The air hangs heavy above its water, and neither man nor beast nor fowl will drink. It is the Dead Sea. I have visited this sea also.

What makes this mighty difference in these neighbor seas? Not the river Jordan. It empties the same good water into both. Not the soil in which they lie not the country about. This is the difference. The Sea of Galilee receives but does not keep the Jordan. For every drop that flows into it another drop flows out. The giving and receiving go on in equal measure. The other sea is shrewder, hoarding its income jealously. It will not be tempted into any generous impulse. Every drop it gets, it keeps. The Sea of Galilee gives and lives. This other sea gives nothing. It occurred to me that they are a perfect illustration of the two kinds of people in the world. And, just like these two seas, the people who give to others and find true life, and those who selfishly hold back from others and find only loneliness and death. Which sea are you like?