Galleon

O Zion, shake thyself from the dust! O Christian, raise thyself from thy slumbers! Warrior, put on thy armor! Soldier, grasp thy sword! The captain sounds the alarm of war. O sluggard! Why sleepest thou? O heir of heaven, has not Jesus done so much for thee that thou shouldst live to him? O beloved brethren, purchased with redeeming mercies, girt about with loving kindness and with tenderness, ‘now for a shout of sacred joy,’ and after that, to the battle! The little seed has grown to this: who knoweth what it shall be? Only let us together strive without variance. Let us labor for Jesus. Never did men have so fair an opportunity, for the last hundred years. ‘There is a tide that, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.’ Shall you take it at the flood? Over the bar, at the harbor’s mouth! O ship of heaven, let the sails be out; let not thy canvas be furled; and the wind will blow us across the seas of difficulty that lie before us.  O! That the latter day might have its dawning even in this despised habitation! O my God! From this place cause the first wave to spring, which shall move another, and then another, till the last great wave shall sweep over the sands of time and dash against the rocks of eternity, echoing as it falls, ‘Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reighneth!”

–          Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons, sermon VII

Don’t those words draw your heart to a great heavenly passion, Christian? Oh, they should! What mighty words were there spoken to raise the affections of Spurgeon’s hearers, and even still hundreds of years later in the Spirit gives them power. Let those sentences inspire you in your walk, my friends; do not be slothful or wary, for we have upon our side the very God who’s voice causes even the pillars of heaven itself to shake. Instead, away the anchor and up the sails! Call your comrades the join you in voyage, leave none ashore. There are great wonders to be seen for those who will venture out from the comfort of their quiet harbors.

To those of you who long to be so free and fearless in your life yet feel trapped by the cares of this earth I say, care not! Let it be upon the Lord to provide; he provides food for the sparrow and clothing for the lily, are not you worth much more than the grasses and beasts of the field? Is there a tug upon your heart to take a great risk, but you fear the thought of failure? Let no faltering emotion keep you from the battle! To those who seek glory, honor, and immortality shall be given eternal life…there is little glory to be found languishing in the calm waters of the bay.

And what of you, young man and woman? Surely you, like I, feel the pressures of this world to follow its paths; to attend colleges, pursue a career, form a family, and live a well-established life. Do not fear stepping outside of the norm. Instead, fear conforming to a world that is passing away. “There is a tide that, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” We are yet young and the flood tide is still strong; cut away the ballast and the ties that bar you to the dock and allow the Spirit’s waves to carry you into wondrous things. Gladly I will be battered by waves and winds and enemy ships so long as my God is at the helm! Will you join me?

“To home, my brothers;

onward to celestial shores:

away the anchor and loose all sails

for we rest here on earth no more!”