Adventure on the high sea began as the boy rowed the small boat about a hundred yards offshore. He threw a small anchor overboard and began to swashbuckle amid swells of a northeasterly wind. Back and forth he walked the boat… shouting to the gulls… swinging arms like a maestro. As he grew in boldness he began to rock the boat to and fro, back and forth. Before long the boat began to fill with water. He could not keep up with the intake. As the boat sank lower and lower into the water, the boy realized that figuratively and literally, he was over his head. “Help,” he cried. “I’m sinking!”
In a flash the boy’s grandaddy pulled the kayak from the beach and paddled out to bring a bucket and a rope to pull the boy in. All is well in the presence of the grandfather as the water is scooped from the boat and the boy is towed safely back home.
Lessons of the day:
- The Spirit of the Prodigal is alive and well. People will take off on high adventure to test themselves, to know independence, to try their hand at conquering the world.
- The boy and the boat were never out of the oversight of the Grandfather. He was watching from the shore, and the boy trusted that he was.
- If we do not ask for help, we will not likely get it. We can sink, or we can call for help. The choice is ours.
- Cause and effect is a natural law. If we tip our boat too far, it will fill with water. Concesquences of bad decisions may not be desired, but cannot be unexpected. Choice is a double edged sword.
In the end we can be assured: remaining under the watchful eye of God… secures us. When we call for help in our distress, God comes to us with a bucket and a tow rope. That is why it is called “Good News.” Thanks be to God!
