Recently, my husband came home asking me this interesting question, "Honey...do you know where the most sinful spot on the planet is?"
Deciding to humor him, I quipped, "Um-mm...Washington, DC? College campuses? Inside my refrigerator? Okay, how about Bangkok...or Los Angeles? Communist China?"
"No, no...think about it," he challenged me. "What is the MOST sinful location...on this planet?"
"This is most definitely one of his trick questions," I thought. "Just where is he headed with this one?"
It seems he had been meditating on this phrase from Micah 7:19, "thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." THEREFORE, he deducted, the most sinful area would be at the deepest part of any ocean. And he challenged me to find out where the deepest part of the sea is located.
Oh boy...I LOVE a project! Especially when there is a bit of research involved. So...drum roll please...here is what I found. The deepest point in the Earth's oceans is called Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (35,840 feet below sea level). Now, so you can imagine a teeny bit just how deep that it is, think about the highest mountain on Earth. If you could set Mount Everest into this ocean depth, it would still be covered by over one whole mile of water!
So...the next time you are tormented about your past sins...just remember the Challenger Deep...and how deep your sins have been cast! As the words express in the song "Down Deep in the Sea,"
(My sins have been cast in the depths of the sea,)
Down deep in the sea;
(So deep they shall never be brought against me,)
Down deep in the sea.
(Down!) Down! (Down! Down!) Down in the depths of the sea,
The sins of the past, are all gone at l-a-st,
Down in the depths of the sea.
Lest you think I am LITERALLY saying that our sins are lurking around in some sort of subterranean demonic abyss, let me assure you I know this is figurative language...a magnificent word picture of Christ's forgiveness.
Corrie ten Boom says, "When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. I believe God then places a sign out there that says, NO FISHING ALLOWED."
I have used Corrie's illustration for years, even designing a "No Fishing" craft for children.
Now I will add another illustration. We will find on our world map:
Latitude 11 degrees 19 minutes N.....Longitude 142 degrees 15 minutes E.
And we will marvel at God casting our sins into the depths of the sea!
