You and Your Boat

You and Your Boat

Fishing – yes. Pleasure sailing, sightseeing and transportation – yes. Over the centuries boats have been used for a variety of purposes. With the exception of tubing, skiing and wake boarding, the purpose of boats has been fairly consistent over the years.

Jesus raised the eyebrows of spectators one day down at the shore. People were pushing and shoving to get closer. No one wanted to miss a word He said – the closer they could get to Him the better. Perhaps you have seen modern day pictures of celebrities being swarmed by people – the streets filled and everyone elbowing their way closer and closer. There were days like that for Jesus too – in fact the risk of Him being physically crushed by the crowds seemed high.

Down by the lake on this particular day the crowds pushed closer and closer to Christ to hear the Word of God. Jesus looked at two nearby boats and then walked over and climbed into one of them.

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,

he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,

and he saw two boats by the lake,

but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats,

which was Simon's,

he asked him to put out a little from the land.

And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

(Luke 5:1-3)

Whoever heard tell of preaching from a boat? A synagogue, yes. In the open fields, a mountain side or even the market places, maybe; but look at the Master now. He is sitting in the boat and Peter the owner has pushed the boat out a little from the shore and now the Master is preaching to the crowds on the shore.

They say ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Sometimes we get pretty narrow in our thinking. If it can’t be done inside the box, it won’t be done at all. But on this particular occasion, the Master stepped outside of the box of people’s expectations and stepped inside the boat to conclude His message for that morning.

People’s expectations and conventional thinking can be like boxes sometimes – invisible barriers to progress. Out-of-the-box thinking is fine as long as it remains inside-the-Bible.

There’s another lesson for you to consider here. It is one thing to allow the Master to use your boat. Simon Peter did not block Jesus from climbing into his boat to use it for a preaching deck. In fact, Peter probably felt honored to have the Lord choose his very own little boat. But allowing your boat to be used by the Lord is one thing. A bigger test was in the works.

“Peter, thanks for allowing Me to use your boat without placing any restrictions upon me. Will you now allow me to use you – yourself, without any restrictions? Your boat is one of your possessions but it’s not your possessions I really want. I want you. Follow me.”

And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."

And when they had brought their boats to land,

they left everything

and followed him.

(Luke 5:10-11)

Are you willing to give Him more than your possessions? Will you give yourself and follow Him fully?

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ

Peter Ramsay

peter@heaven4sure.com