"The Course of Your Life"

The story has been told of a young naval officer who was given his first assignment at sea.  He was determined that nobody would push him around or abuse his authority.... 

One stormy night he saw a bright light coming toward his ship, so he sent a message ahead, “Alter your course by ten degrees.”  Immediately, a message came back to him, “Alter your course by ten degrees.”  The young officer was infuriated!  Such disrespect for authority!  Such defiance!  So he sent a second message, “Alter YOUR course by ten degrees… this is the Captain!”  Then the message came back....
 “Alter YOUR course by ten degrees…..this is the lighthouse!”

Many of us are like that young naval officer:  we are eager to guide our OWN “ships” without anyone else telling us what to do.  We want to be independent; we want to prove that we are capable of directing our OWN lives.  The prophet Jeremiah recognized, however, that “the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).  God’s word is to be the light – or the Lighthouse – to our path (Psalm 119:105).  If we do NOT heed the warnings of the Lighthouse, we are headed on a collision course with certain disaster.  The lighthouse of God’s Word demands that we alter our course and the Lighthouse MUST be respected.

God’s lighthouse shines upon the dangers of sin and warns, “Beware!
Do NOT go this way!  These are the ways of death (Romans 6:23)!”

God’s lighthouse ALSO illuminates the way to a safe and beautiful Harbor called Heaven.  The well-lit path is one of faith (Hebrews 11:6), repentance (Acts 17:30), confession (Romans 10:9-10), baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), and a continued faithfulness in following the light of God’s word (1 John 1:7) .  The Lighthouse demands that we alter our course to follow the path of safety, or suffer the consequences.

Let us NOT try to fight God nor defy His authority.  Let us alter our course and submit to the leading of the Lighthouse. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12).

Will you alter your course?

God bless you! 

David A. Sargent, Minister 

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

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