Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, July 6, 2025
My first thought as we almost stumbled upon this seashell was, “What are you doing here? You don’t belong here!”
“Here” was the middle of a neighborhood sidewalk, far from the seashore, with no other seashells in sight. A fish out of water – or a seashell out of sand.
I can relate. Maybe you can, too. Do you remember times when you felt like “a stranger in a strange land”? Perhaps someone has actually said to you the words I thought when I saw this solitary seashell: “You don’t belong here!”
Ouch. That cuts deep. I think we were born with a longing for belonging.
But Adam and Eve were born into paradise, into the Garden of Eden designed for their delight. I wonder how long they lived in that place of bliss and belonging. How long was it before they chose to distrust God, and were banished from Eden, lest they eat from the tree of life? The consequences of their choice meant they no longer belonged there.
But they still belonged to God, and He provided for them and protected them and promised them a Saviour. The rest of the Bible tells the story of them and their children, and shows God’s heart for them – for us. As we read, we see God’s deep longing for us to choose Him. He does everything He can to bring us back to Him, back where we belong.
“Everything He can” meant that the Son of God chose to also become Son of Man – “God with us” — a God we could see, a God with a friendly face, a God who would willingly become our sins’ sacrifice.
We have all been “loved to life” by the death of Jesus.* He has chosen each one of us for a forever friendship with Him, and waits for us to choose Him in return.
The Bible often describes Christians as strangers, foreigners, pilgrims on this earth, telling both Gentiles and Jews where they truly belonged:
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19 NKJV)
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20)
*I’ve borrowed this phrase from Ann Voskamp, whose most recent book is, Loved to Life: A 40-Day Pilgrimage with Love Himself That Will Change Your Life. In this devotional she follows Jesus through the entire gospel of John.