Sailing into the unknown of God’s journey.

Author Ernest Hemingway wrote the short novel The Old Man and the Sea. It is a disturbing story symbolically paralleling the realities of 1 John 2:15-29 and the struggle of lusting after and loving the world.

In the story, an old fisherman sails into deep water in his small boat and hooks the largest fish he has ever caught. The fish takes control of the fisherman’s life for the next three days and nights, pulling him farther out to sea. The fishing line cuts into the old man’s hands, and the battle for dominance wracks his body with pain. Yet he holds fast.

The fish weakens and the old man is able to kill it and lash it to the side of his boat. The victory is short lived though as sharks attack the man’s prize. He fights off the attacks but loses the battle, and all that remains are the fish’s head, tail, and skeletal remains. The fisherman resigns himself to the loss and gratefully returns to his harbor bloodied, broken and exhausted but safe.

For me, the big fish is material security and the self-serving pride of achievement. I opt for the fish to pull me out to sea, alone and vulnerable. I draw away from the safe harbor of God even though He has continually shown me His love.

My pride drives me to do it all myself, but the fragile, unreal prize of the material and of accomplishment does not last. It is consumed by the relentless onslaught of a fallen, finite and fouled up world.

Gratefully, no matter how many times I sail away on my own, God’s graceful breeze brings me home to Him—to His reality and to His eternal embrace.