Bible Study Verse
Isaiah 55:6
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. (NIV)
Thoughts
Have you ever had a boat that sprang a leak?
I had a guide friend that liked to fish offshore. He originally spent most of his time fishing the Galveston Bay system, but several years ago we had a hard freeze along the Gulf Coast that caused a massive fish die off of speckled trout. Many of the guides who made their living taking clients fishing for trout, had to go to Plan B-fishing offshore for the types of fish found there.
My friend bought a used offshore boat so he could join the crowd. Unfortunately he discovered on one of his trips he was taking on water. His bilge pumps weren't putting out the water as fast as it was coming in. He barely made it back to the marina with a boat full of seawater. He was lucky; he, his boat and his clients survived.
(Tom B)
Action Point
In the story above, my guide friend's boat was taking on water, not emptying it fast enough, and slowly sinking. But let's reverse the situation. Maybe in your life you have everything you need; life is good, right? But slowly you notice that output is slowly starting to exceed input, and no matter what you do the leak keeps going on. Scary feeling, isn't it?????
The reverse analogy could be anything in our lives. Maybe it's a job that no longer meets the increasing needs of you or your family. Maybe it's a marriage or family relationship that was once was full, but now is slowly breaking up. No matter how hard you work, no matter what you work at changing in your life, you're still sinking.
What do you? You run for the safety of the boat dock or marina. How far away is the dock or marina? Will I sink before I get there?
The safety of the harbor is right next to us. "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near," Isaiah 55:6. The Lord is always near, ready to give answers, or just carry on a conversation with us. "Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon," Isaiah 55:7 (NIV).
Our God has promised to be there for us, even though sometimes we aggravate Him with what we do, how we act, our thoughts. ""As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts," Isaiah 55:9 (NIV).
Sportsmen's Tip of the Day
Small aluminum boats are great for meandering around quiet coves, backwater bays, seeking out willing fish, but many of the ones I have owned or fished out of developed leaks. The problem is finding where the leak is. A quick and easy way to find the leak is to get the boat out of water, put it on a boat trailer. A couple of saw horses will do, and fill it with water. Get under it and wait for the water to start dripping out. You will have found your leak.
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