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"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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