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On Course ? ? ?
ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT COURSE?
One night at sea, a ship’s Captain saw what looked like the light of another ship heading toward him. He had his signalman blink to the other ship. “Change your course 10 degrees to the south.” The reply came back: “Change your course 10 degrees to the north.” The ship’s captain answered: “I am the captain. Change your course south.” To which the reply was: “I am the Seaman First Class. Change your course north.” This infuriated the captain so he signaled back: “Dang it! I say change your course south. I’m on a battleship.” Them came the final reply: “And I say change your course north. I’m in the lighthouse.”
There are many in the church today that insist the teachings of the church need to be changed to meet the times. The role of men and women in the church needs to be changed, they say. Divorce is no longer wrong if husband and wife are unhappy in the marriage, they say. Homosexuality is an acceptable life-style, they say. Enlightened men and women no longer need to submit to authority, they maintain.
Through the murky night they blink to the church, “Change your course, we have the people behind us.” The church that is loyal to the Lord must blink back, “Change your course, for we are built upon God and His Word.”
Friend, is there some activity in your life that is running counter to the teachings of the church? Are you bowing to the idol of cursing, or the idol of self-indulgence? Are you telling yourself it is not a sin to regularly absent yourself from worship? Are you rebelling against the authorities God has place over you? Is the idol of hatred (murder) occupying your life? Perhaps the idol of your sexual appetites has you under its control, or maybe it is the idol of materialism that tempts you to covet and steal. Is your idol housed in your mouth as you gossip and slander others?
Jesus came to break the hold these sins have on our lives. He died to forgive them, but He did not move the island upon which the Lighthouse stands. God’s laws are still applicable as a guideline by which to measure the activities of our lives. Out of love for the Savior who redeemed them, Christians altar their courses to bring glory to the Lord who loved them and gave Himself for them.
In Christ’s service,
Pastor Jabs
