The Red Sea (Revisited)

It was called "the exodus."
An exit ramp leading from a dead-end street
to a freeway of sorts.

A nation of indentured brick makers,
bricklayers and pyramid polishers
(finally freed by a pharaoh guilty of infanticide)
packed up and headed east.

The Red Sea parted and the dust flew
as six million sandaled feet forward-marched.
A dry ocean floor became an interstate
to a promised land for which God's chosen
had waited for four hundred years.

"The exodus" is a timeless story of redemption.
But the events surrounding the Red Sea crossing
of an enclave of Hebrew slaves
does not comprise the whole story.

Yes, the Red Sea was a highway to Sinai.
It was a dry way to freedom.
But it isn't the only Red Sea
in which we see God at work.

Where is Paul Harvey when you need him?
The rest of the story is dying to be told.
It's a novel ending begging to be read.
And today is the day to do just that.

As Christ clung to life and stared at death
(hanging from two crossbeams
and between two thieves),
His blood trickled like tributaries
from ruptured arteries and veins.

The leaking red elixir of life
became a river of death
flowing downward from His writhing body
to the foot of His cross.

Because the crimson-stained ground
was soon saturated by the constant stream
(from a spotless sacrificial Lamb
Moses never imagined),
the blood pooled into a sea of red.

In that crimson tide of blood
we find a second Red Sea.
It stands between us
and God's promised redemption,
forgiveness, freedom, abundant life
and inner peace.

Until we cross this sea of red,
we are slaves to sin and selfish motives.
Until we get across it, 
we are in bondage to self-destructive
behaviors and attitudes.
Yet this bloody barrier
gives us cause for pause.

Just as the people of God
contemplated their options
as they encountered the first sea of red,
so we must determine our course of action.

Will we step forward?
Or will we just stand there?
Will we advance? Or will we retreat?

In all honesty,
there are reasons to resist taking the plunge.
Doubt, pride, disbelief, feelings of unworthiness
and rationalized feelings of contentment
with the old life.

Unlike the original Red Sea crossing,
those who step into the crimson waves
will not find a dry sea bed on which to travel.
No mighty wind and miracle divide this time.

The decision to move forward will mean
total immersion and a process of dyeing.
Those who emerge on the other side of the sea
are red-stained but clothed
in the righteousness of Christ

As such they are certified as citizens
in the land of God's promise.
A land the Bible calls the Kingdom of God.