Dr. Marc Drake, Sr. Pastor, First Baptist Church, Sun Lakes
Former President Ronald Reagan had a great goal: “To have a vision to dream of a better, safer world, and the courage, persistence and patience to turn that dream into a reality.” His bold vision demanded a response from the global community and, as a result, the oppressive apparatus of communism was dramatically – and rather suddenly – dismantled.
Most of us will not dream of changing the governments of our world. But we can dream of seeing hearts changed! And when hearts are changed, all else begins to change. To see this dream become reality, we must worship God, follow Jesus Christ, and love and serve others. To do so is to fulfill the purpose for which we were created. To miss out on this is to miss life itself.
Recently, I read that several cruise lines offer cruises to nowhere. My friend has recently been on one of the melbourne cruises and said she loved it, so it sort of tempted me to look. But when I saw you could get a cruise to nowhere, it really did spark my interest. So, you purchase a ticket, pack your bags, but have no real destination. You won’t need to do any research on countries or cities you will visit because you won’t be visiting any. Furthermore, there are no excursions. You just board a boat and cruise to nowhere. After living on the boat for a few days – having seen no real sights and gone nowhere – you return home and are, hopefully, rested and relaxed.
However, while we can understand the appeal of such a cruise for those simply needing to escape stress and unwind, it is extremely important that we refuse to live our lives as though we were on a cruise to nowhere. As the old saying goes, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time!” Yes, it’s true that if we have no vision or plan for the journey we will end up wandering aimlessly in a number of different directions. On the other hand (to go back to my cruise analogy), the traditional approach provides a plan and a direction for the people on the ship. They know what to do when they arrive at each port and also what city or destination is next on their journey.
Now, obviously, we can’t know everything God wants to accomplish through our lives (after all, He often surprises us). But we can ask Him to give us a vision for the future that will help us fulfill the work He has called us to do right where we are. Pastor A.W. Tozer said, “One trouble with us today is that we know too many things. A few great ideas are better than a score of unimportant ones.” Sounds like a man who understood God’s purpose for his life’s journey rather than someone simply on a cruise to nowhere!