Don't Let the World Sink Your Ship

From Billy Graham’s book “Day Hope for Each:”

"We know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us" (1 John 3:24).

A boat doesn’t sink because it is in the water; it sinks because the water gets into it.

In the same way, Christians don’t fail to live as they should because they are in the world; they fail because the world gets into them. We don’t fail to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit because we live in a sea of corruption; we fail because the sea of corruption has gotten into us.

It can happen almost without our realizing it. At one time, we were dedicated to Christ, surrendered to the will of God. But little by little, the chilling waters of the world crept in. We became preoccupied with the things of this world rather than the things of Christ.

Most oceangoing ships have pumps running constantly, sucking out any water that might have leaked into the hull. Similarly, we need to keep the pumps of repentance running. We need to plug the holes with the truth of God’s Word. Don’t let the world sink your ship!

Our marriage relationship closely parallels our walk with God.  As we have to exist in this world, our marriage relationship is also affected by it. We can’t allow ourselves to be absorbed by the world without it influencing our marriages.

After the initial honeymoon stage of marriage, we realize that we’ve married an imperfect human – not quite the fairy-tale prince or princess we had imagined. If you don’t focus on compromising and working with your spouse to make your marriage run smoothly, you will quickly be sidetracked by what your worldly friends tell you or by the role models you see on the television programs and movies you watch.  

For example, if you complain long enough about your spouses with your ungodly friends, you will become angry enough to pack up and walk out the door without ever attempting to correct the issues.  Humans are like sheep.  We will follow whoever speaks out and sounds logical enough if we aren’t standing firmly on Biblical truths.  If you surround yourself with worldly reasoning, you will lose your sense of values and truth, and right and wrong – and, most likely, your marriage.

We need to keep our marriage relationship sacred.  We need to build a wall around it that is impermeable to the world and keep God in the center.  No worldly thinking will justify persevering through the difficulties of marriage – not in these days that we live.  You have to determine, from the start, that you will stay committed until “death us do part”.  With God in the center and his Biblical truths at your side, you can overcome the problems that would normally tear a worldly couple apart.  Just don’t let the water in your boat – don’t let the world sink your ship! (BG)

I John 2:15 – “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

Success in your marriage IS part of God’s will for your life.