What's wrong with this picture?
I was driving along Highway 72 in Mississippi when I saw this boat along the side of the highway!
Interesting! Highway 72 cuts across the north end of Mississippi, not the Gulf Coast. There was no water in sight. This boat was way, way off course.
What happened?
One can only imagine what once was and what could have been -- until someone got careless. As I pondered this scene Paul's words to Timothy came to mind:
This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.(1 Timothy 1:18-20 ESV)
Hymenaeus and Alexander were shipwrecks. At one point they were apparently sailing the high seas with Jesus; next thing you know their their faith was a mess, washed up and laying useless like seaweed on the beach.
What put a torpedo in their boats?
They stopped living the truth of the gospel they professed. William Barclay notes, "The virtue is gone out of a man's message when his conscience condemns him as he speaks."[1]
Are their inconsistencies between what you "believe" and what you live? Cling to your faith in Christ and keep your conscience clear so that your ship remains on course.
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[1] The letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. 1975 (W. Barclay, Ed.). The Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press.