Unsinkable?
I read this week that next Thursday will mark the 99th anniversary of the Titanicsinking in the north Atlantic Ocean. It was April 14, 1912 when the vessel hit an iceberg, broke in two and sunk in the wee hours of the next morning, April 15.
It got me to thinking about the famous maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" ship, which cost some 1,517 of the approximately 2,200 passengers and crew their lives, including captain Edward J. Smith, who went down with his ship.
Aside from the romanticized movie version, there are several lessons that can be learned from that fateful first and last voyage of the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of its time. The most obvious is what happens when pride convinces you that you are invincible. You are destined to go down, as the Scriptures consistently attest. "Pride goes before destruction," is the way the NIV translates Proverbs 16:18, "a haughty spirit before a fall."
No one believed the Titaniccould sink, and so several precautions were neglected that could have prevented the disaster. Plus, as the movie so dramatically portrayed, there were only enough lifeboats for about half of the passengers. Assuming unsinkability was a fatal mistake.
Likewise, we endanger ourselves spiritually when we start thinking that it could never happen to us (whateveritis). We lose our sense of dependence on the Lord and we fail to acknowledge our vulnerability to sin and the weakness of our flesh, especially against the attacks of an enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. That's why the apostle Peter wrote that we should "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God," and therefore should "be alert, because your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:6,8)
We might paraphrase it something like this: "Don't think you're unsinkable (because you're not!)...Watch out for the devil who, like a hidden iceberg, lurks in the cold, dark waters around, seeking to sink your ship."
I'm praying for you, that you won't let him. Have a blessed weekend. I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
--Pastor Ken
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