Standing Still While the World Moves
Recently I went on a 5 day cruise in the Atlantic Ocean. I led a Bible application class on the Book of Jonah for our group and visitors while we were on the ship. I thought the prophet Jonah would be a great person to study while on a ship. There is nothing like empathy, the ability to identify and understand the feelings of another person, to help you understand what the person might have been experiencing at a particular time in his life. Granted, Jonah was not on a cruise ship with a 24 hour buffet, room service with television, but the ocean is the ocean. I don’t care if you are on a big ship or small boat, when the ocean begins to act up, you get concerned. Fortunately for me, the ocean acted just fine while I was awake, but I was informed by some of my shipmates that a big storm brewed up the first night of the cruise. One lady told me that she got dressed and prepared herself to go to the lifeboat because she thought the ship was going to sink in the storm. I didn’t want to tell her, but if the cruise ship was going to sink because of a storm, what chance would a lifeboat have against the big waves?
Other than the thought of the possibility of sinking to the bottom of the ocean, the one reality that everybody has to deal with is the motion of the ship while you are trying to stand still. I don’t care how big a ship is, the ocean is bigger and the ship is going to move while you are trying to stand still, or sit down, or lay down. I have been told it takes a couple days to get your “sea legs” so you can enjoy your time on the ship without turning a number of shades of green and praying that someone will throw you overboard to get yourself out the misery people call “Sea Sickness.” To be honest, I don’t believe the definition fits the illness. I have been sick with just about everything this world has to offer. I have been “love sick, heart sick, physically sick, and mentally sick,” but to be “sea sick” is a feeling that surpasses all human feelings, almost. The one feeling that is the most miserable is when you are not in the right relationship with Jesus Christ and you realize it. You may be in church, at work, school, driving your automobile, at home watching your favorite sports team on television, and you realize that God is not in the right place in your heart. What do you do when you are confronted with this truth? Well, when you are “sea sick” you can take some medicine, when you are “love sick” you will live through it, when you experience any physical sickness you can try a number of possible remedies.
However, when you are “spiritually sick” only one cure exists, and that is to accept what Jesus has provided for you through His life, death, resurrection, and imminent return. There is a 100 % chance that you will deal with this sickness, because it affects all of mankind. Trying to get well by fancy words, doing good things, or joining a group of people who have good intentions will not take away this sickness. The Bible calls this condition “sin” and it has a terrible price. Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” I love this Scripture because it tells us our condition but it also gives us the cure, which is free! As you go through life, which can be calm at times and tumultuous at others, only Jesus can make your life acceptable in the eyes and heart of God. We need to remember that God never intended for us to have “sin sickness.” There is no sense in being “sin sick” when the cure is only a prayer away! Trust me, when you receive the cure you will see an immediate difference in your life! Remember, don’t give in to sin. Think about it!
