Lighthouse

   Imagine being on a boat at night. Close your eyes for a second and think about it. I'll wait for a second..

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Okay. you imagined? So I have a few questions and I want you to answer them honestly to yourself.

1. What kind of boat where you on?

A big old cruise ship? A pirate ship? A fishing boat?

2. What was the water like?

Was it calm and smooth? Where there a lot of waves? Was it in a sea or on a river?

3. Who were you with?

A friend? Family? Where you alone?

All right. Remember what you were thinking on your own little mind boat. I'll get to the point of this (:

So when I think about sailing on a boat at night. I think about one of those classic boats you would draw as a kid with the little triangle sail on bumpy waves in a giant ocean by myself. Its just what comes into my head.

I don't know what got me into thinking about sailing. It just seems so so so fun! And hey, its a summer thing, right? So then I'm thinking, isn't it funny how much our lifes like the way water flows throughout this Earth?

Lifes like a river. Life in Christ is an ocean.

And we're just sailing along.

So the river. There are no waves, and you can only go one way, which is, the way the current goes. Your boat goes which way the current goes and if anything goes wrong, theres the land.

When you don't know who God is, all you do is try to fit in with the crowd, you do whats wrong because you just don't care and you don't know. You follow the crowd, and you lean on whatevers there to make you feel better, whether it be as bad as cutting or smoking, or even just a lie.

Then the river flows into an ocean. Its filled with waves tumbling and tossing over itself and it can be scary. But, its so large and exciting, but the shore is so far away. There may be a current, but you can sail past it because the ocean is so big.

And then you find God somewhere along the way. Because of a friend, family, or something that happened. But the walk with Christ is something that can be scary. Your safe and sound in his arms, but walking by faith is a difficult thing to do on Earth. You face obstacles you never thought you'd encounter. But you always have God by your side. You follow your own crowd with Christ, making what you do so important in his eyes. Your oppurtunities grow, your worries are gone, and you go out and tell the world what he's done for you.

You tell them to come out from the river, and sail in the ocean.

And even when sailing just seems like your done. When you feel like theres nothing more you can do in this life and you want to give up.

There will be a lighthouse.

A little light that shines through that reassures that your safe. Your not lost anymore. Because God has you. He sees you and he has you in his hands. He loves you and would never do anything to hurt you. He will only make you stronger. When you get sick of sailing in that ocean one time, you'll find that light of his. And its just a bit of reassurance that will tell you "You are here for a reason." And eventually, when you make it through that vast ocean of tumbling waves, that walk through Christ with obstacles that make you think your not strong enough, you'll make it to the shore at the bottom of the lighthouse, you'll make it to Heaven at the feet of God himself.

And then sailing into that ocean, straying far from that river, will all be worth it.

But you have to keep in mind that that boat your on counts.

Don't be on cruise ship where you say hey, I'm a Christian, but you do absolutley nothing for God.

Don't be on that pirate ship where all you do is cuss and sin and don't care.

Sail on a fishing boat where you notice everything around you and doing something about it.

Another thing is, don't be afraid. Put all your fear in God's hands.

Don't sail on the smooth water where your safety is insured.

Sail where you can serve God and walk by faith.

And when you sail, bring along someone. But never let them keep you in the river or on smooth water. Cause no one wants to sail through life alone.

Will you sail in the ocean? But more importantly,

Will you make it to that Lighthouse?