Regardless of which boat we were in or whose boat we were in (because our neighbors had boats too), Dad’s most important rule was for each of us to wear a life jacket. Whether we knew how to swim or not, this was the safe and right thing to do. It was no problem for me because at that early age, I didn’t know how to swim. I also didn’t like it when the sailboat leaned to one side or the other for fear of falling out, so I was more than happy to put on my life jacket! We all wore our life jackets with no arguments.
But times have changed. Today there are more boats on the water, more boat operators (who didn’t have a strict Dad like mine to say “get your life jacket on”), more boaters who don’t realize that there are rules for operating a boat on the water, and more people who are more worried about their suntan than their life while on the water.
Regardless of the fact that life jackets save lives, most people do not wear them.
I realize that it’s tempting to boat without wearing a life jacket especially on those hot, hot days. But modern life jackets are available in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. Many are thin and flexible. Some are built right into fishing vests. Others are inflatable and compact until they hit water. Then they automatically fill with air. So there’s no excuse not to wear a life jacket on the water!
As you all know, Mike and I are kayakers, and yes, we do wear our life jackets. But the politically correct term is now PFD or Personal Flotation Device. Well it may be a flotation device now, but it is also a LIFE jacket for the purpose of saving lives.
I believe that God is like a life jacket. He is in the business of saving lives. He keeps us above the turbulent waters. He covers us with his protection and saving grace. He is with us and will never leave us. So let me share some comparisons about why I say that God is like a life jacket.
With a life jacket,
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With God,
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we have to put it on for it to be effective
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we have to acknowledge him for him to be quickened in us.
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it keeps us afloat and keeps our heads above water
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he also keeps our heads above water when things get tough
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it supports us if we get tired of swimming
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he gives us the strength to carry on through one trial after another. God takes over the battles in our lives so we don’t have to. 2 Chronicles 20:15 Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
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There’s no excuse not to wear a life jacket on the water. It is such a simple action to take.
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There’s no excuse not to believe in God. It is such a simple action to confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour but not an action to be taken lightly. Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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We believe that if we wear a life jacket, it will save our lives; we have faith in it
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We believe that if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior that he will not only save our life but give us eternal life; that zoe life; we must have faith in him
John 10:10 I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
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You have to wear the right size life jacket or it won’t function properly; a child can’t wear an adult size
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We have to believe in Him totally or we won’t be functioning within his plans for us; if we try to carry out our own plans or someone else’s plans, it won’t work because His plan for someone else will not fit us.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
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Life jackets should be tested for wear and buoyancy at least once each year. If they are waterlogged, faded, or leaky, the jackets should be discarded.
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Our faith is being tested daily by our circumstances, trials, praises. If we have leaks in our faith, are waterlogged with religion or are faded from exposure to incorrect information about the scriptures, we can’t be strong against the enemy. We can’t let the enemy grab a foot-hold where we are weak.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
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Life jackets must be Coast Guard approved and in good and serviceable condition.
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Our lives must be God-approved, in the appropriate condition to serve others, and directed by Him.
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This gives us a general sense of the value of a life jacket and how God is like our life jacket. He is in the business to save lives!
Let’s look at how we might select a life jacket OR how someone might decide to believe in God:
- The life jacket (life jacket) has to be fitted and snug enough so that someone can pull you up out of the water by the shoulder straps, and you won’t slip out or the life jacket won’t slip over your head.
God provides that snug covering and protection that keeps us above the water, trials, tribulations, and all the devil has to throw at us.
- Psalm 91:9-12 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Wherever we are - in the miry clay as David was in Psalms 41 or on the hill where Aaron and Hur had to hold Moses’s hands up for the Israelites to win the battle with Amalek in Exodus 17:12, God is protecting us. He has us covered!
That snug covering also presses out of us all that is not like him. Sometimes it’s a really tight fit!
- The life jacket has straps on which you can hook a carabiner. We have a paddle leash. This is connected from the life jacket to our paddles so that if we fell overboard or hit some turbulent waters and the paddle left our hands, it would still be attached by the leash. So we wouldn’t be up the creek without a paddle! We could continue our forward motion towards our destination by grabbing our paddles and beginning to paddle again.
If you need a lifeline, God can send someone to you who can grab hold to the hook on your life jacket; someone you need right then and there to give you a word or a confirmation or a prayer.
- Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
- The life jacket also has zippered pockets to keep things in that we don’t want to lose, such as keys, phone in a water-proof cover, whistle - important items to keep us safe in emergencies
God gives us the wisdom to handle all types of situations, and he has placed his word in our hearts to give us direction and calmness.
- Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
- The life jacket is used while in the water or on the boat to protect us.
Water in God’s language means people, nations, multitudes, etc. God will keep us above/on top of waters; in the firmament above the waters or Heaven.
- Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven.
The life jacket is a covering; protection; it saves lives. Many don’t think they need to wear them: “I can swim”; “I’m just sitting here fishing. What could happen?”. Well, life can happen. Would we want to face life - these hot trials, uncomfortable situations, life-threatening diseases, burns that leave scars - without God?
If we wouldn’t want to face these situations without God, then what about our children? Throughout our lives, we have many opportunities to be role models for our own children as well as others. Wearing a life jacket is no different.
How many times have you seen parents put the life jacket on their children but not on themselves? Really? What are they saying to these kids? “Once you get older, you won’t need to wear one either”; “Once you learn to swim really good, you won’t need to wear one in the boat.” “When you are in a boat, you are safe.”
It looks like the parents want to protect their kids because they are putting the life jacket on them, but what good is that if the parents are not protected and something happens, and then they are not alive to raise the kids???
We put on God’s life jacket to make a statement to our own kids. How else will they learn about God if we don’t show them God’s unconditional love; if we don’t provide them with the tools to learn about God; if we don’t take a stand and do the right thing to protect our children? Just as our words are so important when we speak, so are our actions.
But these life jackets are only good for us if we wear them. The best life jacket is the one you will wear.
We can agree to put it on - “sure, I’ll put it on in the boat”; “I’ll put it on once we are away from the dock”; “I’ll put it on when we get to our fishing spot”.
But we still have to take some action to PUT IT ON!
We have to accept or agree to put on the life jacket in the natural and in the spirit. To put on the life jacket means to accept Jesus Christ. Just as with putting on the life jacket, we can say we will accept Jesus Christ, but do we really? Do we stay committed to that path? Like the sower and the seeds parable - what type of soil has the word fallen on? Will the word bounce off of the rocks and gravel so that a few days later, the emotional surrender to Christ is gone? Or will it sink into the fertile ground and begin to take root?
But there’s one more step to take after putting on the life jacket. We have to be sure it will stay on us so we have to zip it up. Have you ever thought about how a zipper works?
A zipper track is made up of dozens of teeth, each of which combines a hook and a hollow. The idea is to latch every hook on each of the two tracks into a hollow on the opposite track. The latching mechanism, called the slide, is just a collection of wedges.
As the slide moves up the zipper, the two teeth strips must enter at a specific angle. As the strips move through the slide, the slide's inclined edges push the teeth toward each other. The strips are offset from each other, so each hollow settles onto a hook in sequence. For this to work properly, each tooth must be exactly the same size and shape, and they all must be perfectly positioned on the track.
In a well-made zipper, the interlocking teeth form an incredibly secure bond.
(www.quora.com/How-do-zippers-work)
So God calls to us, and we come to the point of accepting him. We first have to put on the life jacket to receive his covering and his protection. Then we must complete the process by coming into alignment with him and connecting with him.
We place ourselves in the right position before pulling the zipper up. By doing that, we are saying that we want to become one with God. As we pull the zipper, the teeth on each side are merged together into one cohesive and strong unit that closes the gaps which were there before.
When we confess our sins to God and pray for his spirit to be quickened in us, the God Zipper moves over us. That covering merges the 2 together to become one new man in Christ. We are one unit with Christ. He is in us, and we are in him. We are him in a flesh body. But we must activate the zipper to connect us and create the new man within us.
Once we give our lives to Christ, we put on the life jacket symbolically and put it on tightly. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but we don’t notice it after a while. We are thankful to have it on.
In the same sense that individuals come into unity with Christ, the body of Christ is also putting on God’s life jacket. As the body begins to pull the zipper up, it is merging together Christians from around the world to form one interlocking and incredibly secure bond or union with Christ. I am reminded of our study of the 5-fold ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-16
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
People of God, this is a message of unity - not only on an individual basis but on a collective basis. God is bringing us together in the unity of faith. Now let us stand and give him some praise!
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