Ancient mariners were a superstitious lot.
To them, there were gods everywhere, on land, in the sky, and underneath the sea. To espouse faith in these gods was to invoke their help and protection in everything they did.
One of the ways they did this was to carve figureheads onto the bow and stern of their boats.
Acts 28:11 tells us:
“And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.”
This passage comes shortly after Paul’s disastrous shipwreck on the island of Melita (now called Malta). To sail again after only three months took a measure of faith. After all, the ship Paul had been on, along with its contingent of 276 souls, had gone down in a violent storm. Who would want to risk such odds again?
The figureheads of Castor and Pollux, favorite deities of Mediterranean seamen of the time, gave the sailors faith that they would make the voyage successfully.
As Christians, we need to carve the figurehead of Christ on the prow of our ship. We need to proclaim his presence everywhere we go. He needs to go ahead of us, having his name shouted out when we greet people, and his message printed on every page we share online.
That’s what the ancient mariners did. Their figurehead was out there for the world to see. Even from a great distance, other people knew whose protection they were under. No one was surprised, and no one had to guess.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were a Christian…”
That cuts like a knife. If anyone’s ever said that to us, we have to question what figurehead is on the prow of our ship. Is it money, retirement, our grandchildren, or advancement in our company? What do we talk about, spend our money on, or dream about at night? That’s our figurehead.
If it’s not Christ, then we’ve been given a set of carving tools. We can remake our figurehead anytime we want. The tools are our Bibles, prayer, and love. With those things in constant use, the world may see us coming, but it’s Christ they’ll notice first.
When we carve Christ into our lives, he’ll be the emblem everyone sees.
Copyright © 2016 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.J.22.15c.vp.kjv