A Lesson from the Nautilus

I’m Joni Eareckson Tada.  When I was a child, my family and I would camp among the sand dunes of Delaware Beach; and I loved to collect shells at the seashore.  My favorite was the nautilus:  a beautiful spiraled shell of soft pink and brown stripes.  The tiny creature inside the shell grows and, as it does, it first fashions and then steps into a new chamber, sealing its old chamber behind him.  The nautilus lives a life of constantly filling one space for only as long as it takes to build a new one into which he can then move and grow.  Although many years have passed since my beach camping days as a child, I still keep a nautilus shell on my desk to remind me to leave the past behind.  It’s always more grand to press on, as Philippians 3 says, and move into a higher calling.  If you need to know where you’re going, remember the nautilus:  press on to the high calling of knowing Jesus better.