Water in the Ship

 

The famous preacher D.L. Moody once said, “The place for the ship is in the sea, but God help the ship if the sea gets into it.” That succinct quote is easy to understand. Ships are made for the very purpose of being in the water. A boat that isn’t afloat is not fulfilling its reason to exist. We also understand the problem when water starts to find its way into the ship. While ships were made to be in the water, they were not made to retain it. A ship that takes in water will eventually sink. 

 

But Moody’s point was not to make us think about ships, but Christians. We are the ships in his illustration, and the world is the sea. We were made by God and put into this world for a purpose. According to the famous catechism, that purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. According to Scripture, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created (Revelation 4:11),” and “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16).” We were created by God and for God.

 

We live in this world, but we are not to be of this world. When interceding for the disciples, Jesus said, “I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (John 17:15-16).” Christians, like a ship in the sea, are meant to be in the world. But just as the sea is not supposed to get into the ship, the world is not supposed to get into us. What does that look like? 

 

The world getting into Christians means the world influences us in such a way that our thinking, beliefs, and actions begin to bend towards the world’s system. Rather than being molded by God’s Word, we let the world shape our worldview. Once we begin to take in water, it is only a matter of time until we sink. At first it is only a little water—a small compromise or two that we justify and excuse as “no big deal.” But one compromise eventually gives way to another, and then another. Before we know it, there is standing water in the ship, and we are a little closer to the waterline. Many lives that have been ruined by sin were tragedies over time, not sudden catastrophes. 

 

If your ship is taking in water, you need to repent right away. Don’t let it take you down.