Last week on the beach there were people crawling all over it – people with a job to do, not people relaxing. Up and down the beach in their gators the Florida National Guard would travel looking and watching. Out in the bay, there were 5-6 boats full of workers being paid by BP watching and waiting. All of these people where looking for the oil to arrive. Fortunately it had not arrived at this beach yet. But there were they – diligently watching for the looming disaster.
I thought about them, and the beauty that surrounded them. As I watched the guys in their fatigues driving up and down the beach talking and watching the tourists, I wondered. As I studying the guys on the BP boats and watched them sitting on the rails talking and driving around in circles, I wondered. ( Incidentally, I also found the job I wanted. In this group of boats there was one pontoon boat with a port-a-potty strapped on board. That’s the job I want – to drive the potty boat!) Anyway, I wondered, will these guys be so lulled to sleep by the beauty that surrounds them that when the oil shows up will they miss it at first?
And then I thought about our lives, and how easy it is to be lulled to sleep by the “beauty” that’s around us, that we miss what we are looking for. (I know this analogy breaks down here, as the things around us are more like the oil and what we are looking for is more like the beach!) But really, I think we can get caught up in the everyday stuff and miss the goodness that we are blessed with. So today, be diligent and watchful, not only for the return of our Savior, but for the blessings of life that are right around you today.
32“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Mark 13:32-34