I recently watched part of a program about the building of the Titanic. It was one of the largest ships being built at the time. The part I watched they were discussing how sturdy she was and how she was unsinkable. By law they still had to put life boats on board. One guy said he wanted 64 life boats, but he was out voted. They opted for more deck space and only put the bare minimum, 24. After all, this was an unsinkable, luxury ship, why clutter the deck with unnecessary life boats??? They were secure in their reasoning until that dreadful night when the mighty Titanic met the even mightier iceberg. I’m sure at that moment they wished they had cluttered the deck with more life boats.

Unsinkable ships CAN sink. Unsinkable ships without the proper safety gear in place CAN result in the loss of many lives. Unsinkable ships CAN teach us something.

We can go through this Christian life thinking we are unsinkable; whether it is nothing can harm us or we can handle anything this world throws at us. We can have the attitude that just doing the bare minimum and not cluttering our lives with more can keep us afloat. But what happens when we are faced with an iceberg? What happens when we are faced with a temptation mightier than our unsinkable self can handle? We sink because our deck wasn’t filled with the proper safety gear.

Are we obeying when we strive to do just the bare minimum? God expects more than just the bare minimum from us. He wants us to obey His commandments (1 John 5:2-3). He wants our whole heart (Psalm 119:34). He wants us to be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2). He wants us to study to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15). He wants us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He wants us to give because it is more blessed (Acts 20:35). He wants us to love Him with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). He wants us to treat others how we would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). He wants us to teach (Matthew 28:19-20). He wants us to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). He wants us to draw nigh to Him and He will draw nigh to us (James 4:8).

If we clutter our “deck” with God’s commands, we will be able to stay afloat when we come in contact with the “icebergs” this life throws in our way. Why? Because we will have God’s Word hidden in our heart and know how to deal with temptations, know who to turn to for help first, and know how to resist the devil and turn that “iceberg” into an “ice cube”.

By: Kristina Odom