Initially I posted this image as a blog without words because I felt it spoke for itself. But since then I found myself walking along the same harbour edge and there, two years later was the same boat in the same sorry state.
Several things got to me when I saw it. Most obviously – the sea is in the boat whereas the boat should be in the sea! Instead, it is parked up and might I add it is parked up on a yellow line which clearly says no parking! This sad boat needs bailing out. I suppose it’s a mercy it’s not out at sea!
I am tempted to rename this blog ’What is in your boat?’ Because if we consider Luke 8 –‘The followers came to awake Jesus. They said, “Teacher! Teacher! We are going to die!” Then Jesus got up and spoke sharp words to the wind and the high waves. The wind stopped blowing and there were no more waves. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” The followers were surprised and afraid and said to each other, “What kind of a man is He? He speaks to the wind and the waves and they obey Him.” ‘ The disciples had Jesus in their boat and he bailed them out but it seems they did not know the power of the man they had in their boat, when he stood up and commanded the storm to be still it might have been like Gandalf the Great when he stood up in his full might as a wizard – really scary only much more so as Jesus WAS power not just fictional wizardry and the disciples were afraid, really afraid. ’What manner of man is this who calms the storm?’
When I commented to my friend that somebody needed to bail that boat out she replied by saying, ’I am that boat – I so need bailing out.!’ So why not let Jesus bail us out before we sink? We only have to ask Him just as the disciples did… And believe.
To end my ramblings this is what Jesus later said to His disciples, ‘ Launch out into the deep.’ (Luke 5:4) Don’t you just love that? So why not? Let’s not park up and let our storms fill our boat, let’s look to Him the author of life who wants us to launch out into the deep and live a little!