In 2012, a cruise ship of unimaginable luxury toured the Italian coastline. On the first evening of her sailing, she drew too close to the glittering shoreline and impacted. She filled with water and sank, taking 32 lives with her.
Those of us who lived with the news that disastrous January remember the name of that ill-fated ship, the Costa Concordia.
What was supposed to be a fun-filled week of pleasure turned into a night of terror. No one wants to run on the rocks. If we do, we can only look forward to death and disaster.
Paul faced this exact scenario in Acts 27. Let’s see how he fared.
Acts 27:7 shows the party aboard a trustworthy ship. While surely not as luxurious as the Concordia, it was sailing for Italy, and there was no reason to think it would not arrive safely.
Those are our expectations in our daily walk with the Lord. Of course we’ll be okay. What can get in our way? God will keep us safe no matter where we choose to sail.
In Acts 27:17 we learn that the crew suspected they were too close to shore. They lowered their gear, hoping they could bypass the upcoming disaster.
Just like the Concordia, sometimes we stray too close to the danger zone. Sin draws us in, and we hope, vainly sometimes, that our faith in God will carry us safely past. It’s a risk we can scarcely afford.
Acts 27:27 gives us the first clue the crew knew something was wrong. They were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, and just after dark, the sailors became convinced they were nearing land.
The Concordia should have turned her bow at the first sign of impending land. Rather, she ventured even closer for a better look-see. When we get too close to sin, we can expect disaster to dog our steps.
Acts 27:41 describes Paul’s shipwreck, as the vessel strikes a reef. The bow becomes stuck, and as the storm batters the ship, the stern begins to break up.
The Concordia became wedged against the rocks. She could not move. Yet, she was not safe. She was on a sloping ledge, and she could slip to the bottom at any moment. Sin does that to us, threatening to drag us into the depths. Its fingers of shame draw us ever downward.
Acts 27:43 is Paul’s rescue plan, for the centurion orders everyone to jump ship and make for the land.
When we run aground spiritually, there is a rescue plan. God reaches to us. Yet, as with the Concordia, where the captain waited too long to abandon ship, if we do not move toward God in a timely manner, sometimes the fingers of sin pull us completely down, and we are lost forever.
The Costa Concordia cost $570 million to build. Less than ten years later, her salvage totaled nearly $2 billion. That is a price anyone would deem entirely too high to pay.
When we run on the rocks, God will rescue us, but sometimes there is a price to pay. Our messes have to be cleaned up. Often the price seems entirely too high to pay.
1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us, “For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Then the rocks will not become a problem at all. The salvage costs become moot, because we never get close to the rocks of sin. Instead, we live a life of purity and praise before him.
When we learn to recognize the rocks, we can learn to run with the wind the opposite direction.
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Code: FGO.H.06.14.vp