p. (357) | HOW KEEP THE COURSE?

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 4, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 23.

HOW KEEP THE COURSE?

At sea, each clear day at exactly noon, the navigating officer of every ship stands on its deck, sextant in hand, to take an observation of the sun, in order to determine the latitude in which he is sailing; then he goes to his cabin and works out his position on the chart. Sometimes for days the sun is hidden, and the course must be calculated by “dead reckoning,” on the basis of the speed as shown by the log, the known ocean currents, and the direction sailed. Then, when the sun shines out again, the error is corrected.

Some captains are so skilful that at the end of a week or more of stormy weather the error will be inappreciable; others will be off their course in a single day; but the most skilful will not omit the daily observation if the sky permits its being taken.

Christ is our Sun. The Scriptures and prayer are both sextant and chart, and in sailing on the great sea of life we need the daily observation, that we may keep steady on our course toward the heavenly harbor. We are not left to drift at the mercy of the winds and waves and currents, or to sail by guesswork past the rocks and shoals. There are no days when our Sun need to be obscured, or when the sextant and the chart may not be used.

Those who are most skilful in their sailing do not presume on their knowledge or their skill, but faithfully, as the sailor on the sea, day after day, seek to verify their course, or find the error which was made, and correct it.

God’s Word is for use. Christ, like the sun, is always the same, and gives us the same true direction. “How readest thou” the “observation” which, rightly read, gives your position and your course? What direction does it show you heading? To neglect to use the means provided means to be caught in the counter-currents, turned from the course of safety, and wrecked on the shoals and rocks of life. To use, means safety and salvation.—The Lutheran Observer.