Souls - Sharks' Teeth

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. – Romans 6:4

Have you ever been lucky enough to find a shark’s tooth while strolling on the beach? Maybe you were wandering along the tide lines at low tide, or you ventured out to a nearby sandbar. That’s usually where you’ll find these triangular-shaped teeth, ranging anywhere from tiny to nearly six inches in length.

If you find one, however, keep in mind that you’ve probably found a fossil. It often takes years for a shark’s tooth to settle in sediment on the ocean floor, fossilize, and re-emerge by washing up on the beach. Depending on the type of minerals and sediment in which they’ve settled, shark’s teeth fossilize into different colors as the sediment replaces the actual tooth. By the time the now-fossilized tooth re-emerges, it’s possible that it is centuries upon centuries old – possibly having belonged to a species long extinct.

Thank goodness our salvation doesn’t require that much time to work out, yet we can learn a lot from parallels between the processes.

Like a shark’s lost tooth, our souls are lost. We drift and sink at the same time, until we reach the floor of our despair.

Everyone’s “sediment” is different and, therefore, will affect us differently. For believers, how wonderful it is that the Holy Spirit fills our hearts and replaces our sinful natures immediately. As humans, however, we know that growing holy is a lifelong process. Nonetheless, a new creature emerges: our former lives and purposes are now extinct. And though our transformation takes our entire lives, it will be done (Philippians 1:6).

Lord, thank You for assuring my future as a new creature by way of Your Son. Thank You for the hope that sustains me each day, a hope that will be fully realized in eternity.

Excerpted with permission from Devotions for the Beach by Thomas Nelson, 2012.

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Your Turn

Thank God that He has taken the “bite” out of death! Pause and thank the Lord today that He continues to sanctify all of us throughout our lives until the day we see Him face to Face! Join the conversation on our blog! We would love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily