Get Off The Boat
Our first house was far from the suburban dream home highlighting the covers of architectural magazines, unless it was a landfill publication. You might remember the termite blog posted last week and the associated picture? This is the same house. We believe it may have been featured on a landfill calendar since nothing was thrown away during the decade before we purchased the place.
One path in the yard snaked past a 35 foot steel hull boat resembling the S.S. Minnow sitting in the same spot for the past fifteen years (it might have been the actual S.S. Minnow from Gilligan’s Island… no one can actually account for the origins). The path continued through a collection of paint cans, rock piles, construction material, and reached the back door just beyond the rusting washer and dryer (yes, the washer and dryer were outside). Once inside the house, the path skirted between stacks of newspaper, plastic containers, glass jars, and piles of clothes. This narrow trail jogged near the bathroom, expanded in front of the refrigerator (so the door would open) and again between the recliner and television. Getting to the bedrooms would have required mountain climbing gear and a waiver from our insurance company.
The unfortunate state of the house was a reflection of the previous owner. We are told he rarely left the house and never had visitors. The house was his prison.
We spent nearly three months hauling garbage from the property, both inside and out, leaving us with what we eventually called, “The Boat”. At one time, this monolith was someone’s dream. Fifteen years of neglect left this 35-foot mariner’s nightmare with a corroded steel hull, axles rusted solid, hornet’s nests as large as suitcases, and a rotten, vandalized interior. We spent weekends with the torches cutting off portions of the dreamboat and hauling it away in pieces.
I still remember about halfway through the process when there were jagged edges, structural pieces sticking out, and metal as sharp as razors. One day, as my brother-in-law and I were leaving the house, I saw some neighborhood children playing on the remains of the boat.
My heart froze. These kids were jumping, skipping, and running across parts of the boat I was afraid to even step over for fear of severing my toe, foot, leg, or other parts of my anatomy.
My reaction was powered by adrenaline and my voice bellowed out, “Get off the boat!” My brother-in-law, who was unaware of the children, dodged for the safety of his car – certain his sister’s new husband was a maniac. He has yet to forget this incident.
Memories of “The Boat” remind me of the Biblical principles of obedience. We find in Genesis 8:13-16, which reads, “By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. Then God said to Noah, ‘Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.’”
These verses show the dedicated obedience of Noah. A common misconception is the flood last forty days. Actually, the Bible tells us the rains lasted forty days and, in Genesis 7:24, “The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.” This is the point where the waters started to recede; another five months passed before the Ark touched dry ground.
Three months later, Noah and his family are still in the Ark! In the above verses, Noah removes the covering and sees dry ground, but stays on the Ark for another eight weeks. He is cooped up in the boat for almost a year and patiently waits for the Lord to give him permission to leave. Noah was obedient and the Lord blessed him in many ways.
As the Lord instructed Noah and gave Noah opportunities to be obedient, He is instructing us and giving us our own opportunities. One of the most prevalent instructions is in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”
Many of us are like the previous owner of our first house; we do not want to leave our comfort zones. We use the same paths in our lives and rarely get rid of any of the clutter. We become prisoners of ourselves, walking on the jagged remains of a cut-up dream and failing to see the perils of the razor sharp edges.
The Lord offers us freedom from our prison by calling us out of our comfort zones.
The Lord is giving us an opportunity to be obedient. The Lord is bellowing, “Get off the boat!” Is it time you came out of the Ark?
Do you know someone who might enjoy this blog or one of my eStories or Books? Please share this blog or my website with them. Thanks!
Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
Sign Up For Email Delivery For This Blog
