By John R. Ecob D.D.
This world is a dark place and in the darkness many lose their way. The number of paths one may follow make life a confusing maze. In our tender years we are safe under the care of loving parents who guide our footsteps but when we reach the age of understanding we begin to make our own choices; we set our sails to the winds that blow on our barque and the course we take is often determined right there and then. Some drift through life wherever the winds may take them. Some are becalmed and seem to go nowhere in life while others are driven onto the rocks by violent storms. But some are directed by a wise captain on a right course and safely arrive at their final harbour
The difference is, Who is in control? All negotiate the same hazards. All sail the same seas and face the same storms but sadly, not all arrive at the safe harbour.
Early in the journey of life we need to choose the right captain; one who has sailed those seas and has endured the storms; someone who knows how to set the sails in every breeze or howling gale and someone who can follow the map that charts the safe course.
There is one who is available to captain our barque and His name is Jesus. He came and lived among men. The Bible says He
was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10).
This captain not only trod the path of life in this dark world of sin but He rose from the grave and safely returned to the heavenly harbour. He knows the right way and now as captain brings many “many sons to glory”. And the wonderful thing is He waits to be invited to captain our barque; to guide us safely to the heavenly harbour. That’s why one wise man wrote:
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
And another wrote:
The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble (Proverbs 4:18-19).
When our trust is in the Lord Jesus we can be sure of eternal life no matter what storm may blow upon us. We will safely harbour with our captain on board for the chart clearly reads,
That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:15).
And,
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11).
‘Tis the Set of the Sail
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
To every man there openeth,
A high way and a low,
And every mind decideth,
The way his soul shall go.
One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
‘Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.
Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
‘Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.