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Burning
Your Ships
When
Hernando Cortez and his small force of men landed at
Veracruz
in 1519 to
begin their conquest of
Mexico
, Cortez purposely set fire to his fleet of 11 ships.
On the shore, his men watched their only means
of retreat sink to the bottom of the
Gulf of Mexico
. With no
means of retreat, there was only one direction to
move: forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever
might come their way.*
It’s
all about commitment!
Sadly
today, many refuse to commit themselves to anyone or
anything, and more and more people are proving
unfaithful to promises they have already made.
Unwilling to “burn their ships” behind them, many enter into agreements or “covenants”
without any REAL commitment, always making sure to
leave the door open so they can return to their former
conduct or way of life should the going get tough.
In
order to follow Christ, we, too, must “burn
our ships.”
Our
“ships” include anything that would prevent us
from following Jesus and finding the truly abundant
life (John 10:10) and eternal life to come (Mark
10:28-30). “Burning
our ships” means that we will turn away from any
sinful thought, attitude, or action and determine to
follow Jesus. This
is what the Bible calls repentance
(see 2 Cor7:9-10).
Jesus
used the farming occupation to illustrate the
commitment that is required in following Him: "No
one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).
The
Apostle Paul “burned his ships” in order to follow
Christ: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have
apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forward to those
things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”
(Phil 3:13-14).
Jesus
wants to lead us to eternal paradise in heaven.
To follow Him, we must believe
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), “burn our ships” in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins
(Acts 2:38). And,
we must commit to following Him faithfully throughout
our journey (1 John 1:7).
Following
Jesus is worth ANY
and EVERY sacrifice that we may have to make, but we must
burn OUR ships, and follow Him.
Won’t
YOU?
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*
From a devotional given by Eddie Holt at Creekwood
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