Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Many people around our area understand that Andrew and I like to go sailing to relax, mostly because it’s cheap and doesn’t require any gas. Forty years ago, when I was in middle school, I learned how to sail. I spent many summer vacations out on the lake learning how to control and navigate a sailboat. A few years ago, Andrew and I were sailing across one of the lakes that is close to our home. We were going through some pretty heavy white caps, and I’m guessing that the wind was over 20 mph. Andrew hangs out on the trapeze for counterweight on one of our catamarans, but this day was different than all others, because when I momentarily looked up to adjust our direction, he was gone. He was about a hundred feet behind the boat because the mast had completely broken in half. I’ve flipped over boats, and broken masts in the mud, but In 40 years of sailing I have never broken a mast, simply due to the stress of the wind.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
A mast has to be extremely strong. It needs to be strong like a tall oak tree. It needs to be unbendable like a reed that will not bend in the wind. Our love for God has to be so strong that nothing can shake it. Whatever sufferings that we might have to endure, whatever persecutions we might have to go through, our love for God has to be unmovable, and our faith in Him, unbreakable. Our love and affection for Him cannot be shaped by a wife, family or relatives. It cannot be honed by others’ perceptions of what God is according to them. This is why the first commandment is to love God. John the Baptist was a man who loved God in this manner.
Matthew 11:7-11 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Love is a very powerful emotion, but first and foremost, our love has to be placed entirely on God. It has to be greater than any other relationship in our lives. If you cannot do that, you make yourself unworthy of eternal life. Many years ago, when I was in high school, one of my favorite classes was astronomy. We had a special telescope where you could look at the sun. We needed a special filter in order to do this. I learned that in order to look at the sun we needed to block out certain things. The same thing is true of our salvation. To someday inherit eternal life, we need to focus on Christ and block out the temporal concerns of this world. We need to focus on the Son of God. He must be our greatest love. What is something that you focus on during your day? Some people’s eyes are focused on fixing their home. Some people’s eyes are focused on their family and relatives. We must keep our eyes fixed on Christ. The beloved Apostle John warns us about not loving this place
1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Over 40 years of sailing, I’ve learned that a mast needs to be strong. You might break a rudder, or you can break a daggerboard, but if the mast comes down, it’s over. It can never fail, as our love for Christ can never fail. Our love for God is like the mast on a sailboat. We might spring a leak, we might even rip the jib, but in order for us to get home, our love for Him must prevail. Just like a mast is centered on a catamaran frame , God must be centered in our life in everything that we do. When Andrew and I go sailing, the mast is the very first thing that goes up. It is the center of power for the ship and is the source of our direction. God is our strong tower, and He is the mast for each of our ships.
What is something in your life that you devote a lot of your time and attention to? I’ve always felt that the more time that you spend on something, the better that you will become at it. Scriptures clearly teach us that we are supposed to walk in love, but everybody needs to be very careful what they place that love upon. Solomon placed a lot of love upon his wives, and it lead him away from a close relationship with God. Some people love making money, and their love for the things of this world leads them away from devotion to Christ and His purpose. Some people love their children and their parents more than the truth, which leads them astray from serving Christ. Love is a very integral aspect of the Christian Life, but it can never be focused on anything else in a greater manner than in service to God. It is a very powerful feeling. Misplaced love can cause you to become unworthy of God. You can love a wife or your relatives more than the truth. The commandments are in an order for a reason. We need to love God more than anybody else, more than a neighbor, more than a friend, more than a wife, and more than your own children. If He isn’t greater than these relationships, you become unworthy of salvation.
Whatever we might have to go through in this life, or the sufferings that we might have to endure, our love for God has got to be an unmovable mast, firm, steadfast and secure. It must be completely unbreakable, like an…….
……Unbendable Reed.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching tlkjbc, or by going to hipcast, buzzsprout or amazon, or by going to our blog at tlkjbc.com, or I suppose, you can find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 