A Minute Meditation

Ships in the harbor are safe but that is not what ships were built for. We remember Jesus saying to his disciples, “Launch out into the deep.”

Ships are built to launch out into the deep and if they don’t do that, there is no excuse for their existence no matter how safe and secure they may feel in the harbor.

We were also created to launch out into the deep. Paul describes some of his experiences and he tells us that he was shipwrecked three times. On one occasion, he spent a day and a night floating around in the deep before being rescued. Yet he did not hesitate to board a ship and set sail for distant lands whenever he had an opportunity to spread the gospel message.

It is possible for us to be overly timid about our preaching. We may feel safe in the harbor, in the privacy of our own home. We may feel frightened to launch out and tell others the saving message that Jesus is coming and they should be preparing for his return. We need to be willing to launch out into the deep, to get out in water over our heads and set sail with our banner flying. We declare we belong to the Lord and we want to share the good news of his coming kingdom with all we can reach.

Ships with dropped anchors sitting in the calm water of the harbor certainly are safe but what good are they? To be of any value to the owner, the ship must be laden with cargo, untied from the dock, the anchor hoisted from the bottom and the ship launched out into the deep to deliver its cargo to some distant land.

Compare us to the ship. We sit at home, safe and secure in our comfortable chair. While we may feel unthreatened there, what good are we to our Creator if this is all we ever do?

Shouldn’t we be spending the time at home filling our minds — loading our cargo — with the word of God which is able to make one wise unto salvation?

The time should arrive for us to get up out of our comfort zone — pull up anchor — and go out to deliver our cargo — share our knowledge of God’s saving word.

Of course there is risk involved. Nothing worthwhile has ever been done without risk. There are no waves in the harbor. As we sail past the breakwater, the sea becomes choppy and our little vessel may begin to toss to and fro. But we are not afraid, for as we often sing, “The rough winds may wrestle, our God will perform, with Christ in the vessel we smile at the storm.”

Our Lord is able to calm the sea but we need to launch out into the deep and take the precious cargo of the word of God to others. In older days, it required wind to drive the ship so sailors would want and expect some turbulence.

People talk about what they will do when their ship comes in, but their problem is that they have not sent a ship out. If we have not sent one out, there is none to come back. If we do not sow, we will not reap; if we do not launch out into the deep, we cannot sail to distant ports. We may be safe in the harbor, but what useful purpose can we be to God tied up at the dock with an empty cargo bay?

Let us get busy filling our minds with the word of God and then let us be willing to launch out and share the good news of God’s soon coming kingdom with everyone we meet.

David tells us about those “that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters.” “He maketh the storm calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.”

Recently, we read a story about “Late Bloomers.” It told of a 78-year-old widower who lived on a busy street. He decided to go out in the morning and stand on his curb during rush hour when everyone was rushing to work and school and simply wave at them and smile.

He then began to call out to them, “Have a happy day,” “Have a great day,” “It’s a beautiful day.” The response amazed him. Everyone waved back as enthusiastically and energetically as he waved to them.

As days passed, all kinds of people became involved — families with children on their way to school, kids on bikes, truck drivers, commuters, people walking on the sidewalk. The people would honk their horns and wave back. It seemed that no one could go by and still hold on to a depressed feeling.

The Reader’s Digest had an article recently about practicing random kindness and acts of beauty. This man was doing that and he said that it made him feel happy and young again.

Does scripture support this attitude of being kind and thoughtful of others? Paul tells us to “put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience.” He also says, “be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.”

The apostle also exhorted us, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” This sounds like practicing random kindness to all men, especially unto the household of faith.

Jesus tells us that God is “kind to the ungrateful and wicked, be ye therefore merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

This kind of behavior is contagious. As Christ’s brothers and sisters, we should be causing an epidemic of kindness and compassion. Are we infecting everyone we meet with so much love and cheer that everyone is happy to see us come and sorry to see us go?

Are we a ray of sunshine in a dark and degenerate world, shining for all to see? Paul tells us that, “we are all the children of light, and the children of the day.” Jesus told us, “we are the light of the world.”

Of all the people in the world, we should be exhibiting these qualities of love, thoughtfulness and kindness. The Psalmist tells us, “we have thought of thy lovingkindness, 0 God.” As we think of God’s goodness, it should cause us to try to be merciful, as He is merciful. When we do these loving acts of kindness we do it unto the Lord, for as he said, “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.” John told us, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”

“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not boast. Love is not proud. Love is not rude. Love is not self-seeking. Love is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Let us become a carrier of these contagious virtues. As Paul put it, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience.”