December 21, 2020 – Click here to listen
Two of my sons and their families are coming down for a week’s visit the day after Christmas. They will definitely want to go fishing and I’ve been working on cleaning my boat, (which was filthy,) prior to their arrival. I worked 4 1/2 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday cleaning it and I’m heading back over there this morning for round three I’m supposed to meet a buddy over there shortly.
Much of those days was spent on my hands and knees brushing and scrubbing the hard to get to places and this morning my back, knees, and legs are stiff and sore. A friend of mine told me that once it was waxed it would be far easier to clean in the future. Before I could even think about waxing however, it needed to be thoroughly washed and cleaned from top to bottom.
As I scrubbed away it made me think that I needed a similar cleansing. It seems that most fishermen frequently use profanity. I’ve seen it on fishing boats from Costa Rica to Australia, to the Bahamas, and the Florida Keys, and kind of think it is universal. I catch myself joining in when I miss a fish, or something goes else goes awry and it makes me mad at myself for days for exhibiting such behavior. Most of my fishing friends are not Christ followers and I feel terrible when I join them instead of setting a good example.
I started using profanity at a very young age and since I started following Jesus have tried several remedies to stop. I used to wear a thick rubber band on my wrist, and I would snap it very hard whenever I said a cussword. I doubled up on the rubber bands and snapped myself so much I developed a callous on my wrist and still didn’t seem to slow it down. I tried fining myself and donating the money to a needy cause, but that didn’t help with ending the cussing either.
I’m convinced the cleansing and wax job that I need can only come from the Holy Spirit. I have prayed that He would make me a better person in 2021 and that I can repel Satan like water streaming off a freshly waxed boat. Prayer seems to be the most effective tool at my disposal.
The only bright spot in all of this is that I feel bad when I sin. I don’t suppose a completely lost person even bats an eye or feels remorse or even gives it a second thought when they sin. When the fishing got slow the other day, a friend looked around and said, “Someone on this boat is not right with Jesus.” He had been cussing up a storm for some time and using excessively foul language all day. I looked at him and he smiled as though he was reading my mind and said, “Its probably me.” We laughed and I said, “You think?”
God wants us to bear the fruit of the Spirit. Love should be in our hearts, along with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should not feel guilty over sins that have been confessed and forgiven. We will never be perfect in this life, but believers’ lives should be characterized by actions and attitudes that please God. We must confess our sins and ask for forgiveness and know that our sins are forgiven.
Every time I watch the Passion of Christ I weep. I am generally stoic and am not a crier, but I think of the punishment that He endured, and I know it was me that put those stripes on His back and the nails in His feet and hands, and all of the rest. I feel so bad that He had to go through that because of my rotten sins and it makes me want to honor Him and love Him all the more. Letting Him down with coarse sinful behavior is not the way to honor our Lord who suffered so much in order that we can live and be with Him.
Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.