Limpet Christianity

On a recent camping trip we spent some time at the beach where I prised some limpets off the rocks for the kids to look at.

Limpets don't know much I'm sure, but one thing they do know how to do well is cling fast to that rock when you fail to get them off in the first go.

At the first sign of trouble they hold tight! Not to themselves, or each other, but to the rock. The immovable rock!

In the first chapter of James we read these encouraging words to the saints: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

Just like the limpet, during times of trial, we are to cling to Christ with all our might. He is the immovable rock of our salvation! And we would do well to consider these trials a blessing as they drive us to press further into Christ - our rock, our fortress our shield!

During each storm, as we cling to Christ our Salvation, our faith grows as we see again and again that He has kept us soundly safe.

Sometimes faith is little more than a simple clinging to Christ; a sense of dependence and a willingness so to depend. When you are down at the seaside you will see limpets sticking to the rock. You walk with a soft tread up to the rock; you strike the mollusk a rapid blow with your walking-stick and off he comes. Try the next limpet in that way. You have given him warning; he heard the blow with which you struck his neighbor, and he clings with all his might. You will never get him off; not you! Strike, and strike again, but you may as soon break the rock. Our little friend, the limpet, does not know much, but he clings. He is not acquainted with the geological formation of the rock, but he clings. He can cling, and he has found something to cling to: this is all his stock of knowledge, and he uses it for his security and salvation. It is the limpet's life to cling to the rock, and it is the sinner's life to cling to Jesus. Thousands of God's people have no more faith than this; they know enough to cling to Jesus with all their heart and soul, and this suffices for present peace and eternal safety. Jesus Christ is to them a Saviour strong and mighty, a Rock immovable and immutable; they cling to him for dear life, and this clinging saves them. Reader, cannot you cling? Do so at once.

- Charles Spurgeon (All of Grace)