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Anchored

What are you anchored to? Anchors are what keep us in place. I love the above picture, they are signifying that they are anchored to each other. Everyone is anchored to something. Some are anchored to their jobs. Some are anchored by fear. Some are anchored to a certain way of doing things because that's the way we've always done it. Some are anchored to unhealthy relationships because they don't feel worthy of anything better. Anchors can be good and bad, depending on what you're anchored to.

 For several days I saw anchors everywhere. I soon realized this was something we needed to dig into. 

 Webster's defines anchor in several ways, including:

 A fixed object (such as a tree or piton) to which a climber's rope is secured.

 To secure firmly.

 A device usually of metal attached to a ship or boat by a cable and cast overboard to hold it in a particular place by means of a fluke that digs into the bottom.

 The largest anchor in the life of a Christian should be our anchor to our Savior. Our relationship with Christ should be what all of our decisions pass through. It should provide us with a steadiness that keeps us from moving out of His presence. When things pop up in our lives, tempting us to look away, we can easily discern whether it's beneficial to us or something we should avoid because our anchor is firmly planted in Him. 

 What you anchor yourself to --good or bad-- will hold you and keep you in place. We should be so firmly anchored that we don't sway. Yet some of us get used to the comfort of being a Christian that we begin to view things that are not good for us as being good or being of God. John Bevere taught on this a few years ago (watch the sermon here) and used the example of a couple moving in together to save on their expenses because, "We are getting married anyway," as something being good (as in a good idea) but not of God. We are too quick to allow ourselves to be swayed by our feelings and emotions, forgetting that we are to do what 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says, "avoid all kinds of evil"  (evil being defined by Webster as morally reprehensible: sinful, wicked). Time with a friend who doesn't know the Lord and who can only get together with us at a bar appears good but is not. There are places and situations that we should avoid. Period. They are not beneficial to us. 

 As these days continue to become crowded with opinions and feelings we need to be certain our anchor is in Jesus and the Word. God's Word, the Bible, is our map for life. It's course is set for us with commands of how to live and what to steer clear of. It saddens and, to be honest, angers me when I see Christians playing with things of the world. Things of Satan. Evil that is created to harm our minds, bodies, and reputations. Our sanctification doesn't take a holiday. We don't get time off as Christians for good behavior. We can't party on the weekend because we feel like it and then go back to being Godly when we're done. It doesn't work that way. We aren't Amish, we don't get a rumspringa. Being in the world but not of the world means that we live among sinners but we do not behave as they do. We are different. Even if that makes us uncomfortable. We are the light and we need to start acting like it.

 Some act as though their anchor is a Cracker Jack prize, small, plastic, flimsy. Can be carried around in the pocket and then dropped anywhere. Too many are anchored to their own minds instead of the mind of Christ. God's Word is our standard, not the word of anything else, no matter the popular opinion. Jesus is a strong anchor. He is the rock that we build our lives on. He can keep us firmly planted if we allow Him.

 I found it interesting that another definition of anchor is: a large business (such as a department store) that attracts customers and other businesses to a shopping center or mall. This begs an answer to the question, what are we attracting to ourselves by what we are anchored to? In simpler terms, what kind of fruit are we producing?

 Going back to the initial definitions above, I love the distinction between an anchor holding us in place and the first definition of the anchor being what a climber's rope is secured to. Jesus is my anchor in both of these situations. He keeps me steady, helping me to stand firm, and He is above, holding me as I climb closer to Him.

 Keep your eyes on the Anchor. The lover of your soul. All earthly things will pass away, only our life in Christ will last. 

 The world is watching, be the light. 





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