Good morning and welcome in everybody. 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.
Andrew and I like to go sailing. I picked up an old catamaran a few years ago, and did a lot of repair work to make it seaworthy. My wife and I spent an evening repairing the torn mainsail, Andrew and I repaired broken cables, and eventually the boat was ready to go. Catamarans are extremely fast in the water. I can remember being out in a 20+ mph wind, and our neighbor said that when we turned around to tack in the opposite direction, the boat shot out of the water like a rocket. It’s fun to watch sailing, but on a catamaran, unless you’ve been on the boat itself, you really don’t understand the work involved. It’s not as simple as it appears. It’s a struggle in opposition against the wind. The wind is constantly trying to flip the boat over as you run it right to the edge of the line. You must learn to maintain control at all times. You must learn to adjust your heading and your course. You must watch the wind that is coming from behind you. If you’re not in control of the boat at all times, it will flip over in the water. This can be devastating in a competition because you can lose the race.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
In order to be victorious in the Christian Life, it’s going to require struggling in opposition against sin. Just like a wind that wants to topple your boat over, sin wants to knock us down. We need to learn to walk in temperance and self-control, in the same manner that you would control a sailboat. Like controlling a catamaran in heavy seas, we must be in complete control of ourselves and our actions. To become blameless and without rebuke in the sight of God, we must control the way that we act, and subdue the carnal nature.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Scriptures teach us that we need to be in subjection to the gospel of Christ, but in order to do that, we must bring our bodies into subjection by completely subduing the deeds of the flesh. Like a dog on a leash, it is the owner who is supposed to be in control of the animal. Like a driver behind the steering wheel, they are the one who is supposed to be in control of the vehicle. Each of us needs to be in control of ourselves, empowered by the power of the Holy Spirit, and strengthened through the inner fortitude of our faith. In order to be a light unto others, we must walk in the light. In order to avenge disobedience, we must first become obedient ourselves.
2 Corinthians 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Sometimes when a child disobeys, they need to be corrected by their dad and disciplined, but in the Christian Life we must learn to discipline ourselves. There will be times when nobody else is watching, and we need to be able to correct ourselves whenever those times are merited.
2 Corinthians 6:12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.
On a sailboat there are a lot of things that are going on. The winds can come suddenly at you from many different directions. You might encounter a crosswind that you never really expected. We must watch and be ready for them as they come, and deftly navigate through them. We must do the same in regards to our Christian walk, being in complete control of our vessel, so we don’t run it into the rocks.
1 Timothy 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
One of the lakes that we sail has got a lot of deadheads just below the water line. If we were to hit them, it would bust the daggerboard and crack the hull. The more familiar we become with the lake, the more familiar we become with avoiding its dangers. We need to be able to recognize the dangers of sin and be capable of avoiding and eliminating it from our lives.
Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
To overcome means to conquer and defeat something. In Christianity, it is about prevailing over temptations and weaknesses of our flesh. In order to enter eternal life, each of us must be able to overcome the sins of this world. We must struggle in opposition against the things of the flesh that actively attempt to shipwreck our boat.
Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Many years ago, people used to control a puppet through the use of strings. Nowadays when people play a video game, they will use a controller to guide their character through different worlds. Each of us knows what it means to experience control, but the most beneficial control is learning to control yourself. We must not allow ourselves or our actions to be dictated by the sinful nature. We need to control what we do and how we behave. We need to control how we act, and what we do. We must place our bodies in complete subjection to the will of God.
Romans 6:12-13 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Many people like to be in control of others, but in my own opinion the greatest control one can possess, is to be in control of yourself. Like my old catamaran, we all need to be in control of our own vessels. We want to make sure that we keep them upright, lest we momentarily lose control, flip the boat, and find ourselves being cast…..
…..Overboard.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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