Out of nowhere the Holy Spirit dropped that question into my spirit today, so I’m going to ask you the same thing. Picture our lives like being in a boat out in the sea. There are two kinds of people; we can be adrift wherever life takes us, or we can grab the oars and row. All of us have a choice. Look at your present situation honestly, and you’ll know which type you are.


I used to be the “adrift” kind, that is, I dealt with whatever life hit me with as a reaction. When trouble came, I did the best I could. It never occurred to me to prepare for trouble, or to avoid it in the first place, because I was young and wasn’t walking with the LORD. Therefore the wisdom of God wasn’t working in me.

It was after I came to the LORD, that I realized I was adrift on the sea, and it took me wherever it wanted to, anytime it wanted to, and I had no control even though my boat was equipped with oars. So even if I were to row, well, WHICH WAY TO LAND? Life was one crisis after the other, with little rest or hope in between. Many of you are like that. And many of you would honestly like to change, but just don’t know how. Let me give you a clue: you can’t do it on your own.

MANY people have gotten rich selling books on “self-improvement”, and most of those books are sitting on a shelf or in a box somewhere, and they never even got read all the way through. It’s usually the “adrift” kind that buy them, and after not being willing to pick up their oars and row for themselves, they read and realize that nobody is going to do their rowing for them, and they get tired, close the book and resign themselves to being adrift for the rest of their life. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I said, It doesn’t have to be that way.

Many people have plenty of “wishbone”, but not a lot of “backbone”. They want all their problems to just “go away”, and hope by ignoring them, they will. But life doesn’t work like that, as you’ve probably found out by now.

And there are the ones who ROW their boat, not satisfied to let life take it where it will. Even those who row their boat don’t always get where they really want to be, but at least they’re doing something about their situation, whether it is right or wrong. And that’s where God comes in. You know I have to talk about Jesus, don’t you? Why? Because without Him, you’re going nowhere in life. You can get rich, have many possessions, have the world in the palm of your hand, and still be miserable.

God doesn’t have a problem with you being rich and having many possessions. But He DOES have a problem with that money and those possessions having YOU. (No, this isn’t a pitch for you to sow your money into my ministry, because I don’t need your money.) This is a pitch for you to sow your life to Christ Jesus.

This just now occurred to me, the Holy Spirit gave me a scripture in John 12:23-26, thank you LORD, for helping me get Your point across:
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Here’s what I’m trying to say: you’ll get nowhere good if you’re adrift and not taking any responsibility for where your life is going, you need to pick up your oars and row. But most of all, you need to row in the strength of the Holy Spirit, AND, in the direction He leads. You don’t chart your own course, because NONE OF US are smart enough to do that. You let God do it, because He sees the big picture. We only see the here and now, and most of the time, we don’t even have a clear view of that. God has a SPLENDID plan for your life, so much better than you could choose for yourself.

Look again at verse 24, what is it saying? It is saying that if you turn loose of the control of your life and give it over to God, yeah, you could say “you” died in a sense, because your life is no longer your own, but God’s. “but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

Those next two verses are equally important, go read them again. I’ll wait. Now, what is your ultimate goal? To live forever? Well, where do you want that “forever” to be? The Bible tells us this in Luke 13:23-30,
“23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”

Now, those aren’t the words of me or some other preacher. They are the words of Christ Jesus himself. So I’d pay attention if I were you. I did, and I’m sure glad. Yes, I still have problems from time to time, but I know the One with all the answers to those problems, and He is always willing to show me what to do, and I obey Him. I’m no longer adrift, I’m rowing, and being led by the Holy Spirit. He knows the way home, and He’s guiding me on my way there moment by moment, day by day, year by year.

I’d sure like it if you went along…hint, hint. You know what to do…call upon the name of Christ Jesus and be saved!