Sandcastles

Jesus and I were walking along the beach. To our left was the ocean. To our right loomed giant cliffs. The beach stretched for miles in front of us. Every once and a while, Jesus would stop, bend down, and build a sand castle. We would pause and play in the sand, and then continue walking. I loved Jesus' sand castles, and looked forward to whenever He would build them for me.

When we stopped the next time, Jesus taught me how to build my own sand castles. We each built one, played in the sand for a while, then continued walking. After walking a bit further we stopped again. This time Jesus watched as I built a bigger sand castle than the previous one that I had built. It took a little bit longer to build, but when I was done we continued walking.

We stopped a third time, and I set out to build the biggest sand castle. I used every skill that Jesus had taught me and soon I had built a giant sand castle with walls that were five feet in length and ten foot high on every side of me....and Jesus stood on the outside.

I continued to build and decorate my sand castle with intricate patterns on every wall. I wondered if this was the greatest sand castle ever created. As I finished, I sat down to enjoy what my hands had made.

Jesus waited patiently on the outside. The tide started to come in, and each small wave removed a chunk of the wall that was facing the ocean. Little by little more sand was removed from that wall until a crack began to form.

I panicked when I saw the crack and set to work to fix it. The more I tried to fix it, the bigger it got. Even with all of my sand castle skills, there was nothing I could do to fix this crack. I sat and wept bitterly on the floor of my sand castle as the crack grew larger and larger. I waited expectantly for the time when the wall would come crumbling down.

Soon a mighty wave crashed into my sand castle and the wall fell. I stood up and walked outside of my sand castle to survey the damage that had been done. I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I ignored it. As the high tide receded, I imagined how I could build up my sand castle even bigger than before, even stronger. I felt a second tap on my shoulder, and also heard a faint whisper. I shrugged those off as well. I continued to think and plan on how I could make my sand castle the best sand castle when I felt a third tapping on my shoulder.

Annoyed, I turned to look. There was Jesus waiting patiently for me. How foolish I had felt in that moment! How could I have forgotten about Jesus?! Without a word or single glance of judgement He gently put his hand on my shoulder and pointed off in the distance in the direction we were headed.

I looked and strained my eyes, and saw the faintest glimpse of our destination. It was a giant city! Towers loomed higher than the clouds! It was full of bright lights and shouts of joy. They were having a party! Fireworks exploded in the sky, and thousands of balloons rose into the air.

I turned to look at my sand castle. Five feet in length on each side with ten foot walls. One of the walls was crumbled away. How small it seemed in comparison, how feeble. I felt a light tapping on my shoulder. When I turned to look, it was Jesus beckoning for me to follow Him.

I turned away from my sand castle and walked with Jesus.