John Chicoine published a note.
January 29, 2010 ·
“ You are responsible for your wake.” (River Trip Lesson 2007)
Last year while I was vacationing in a small ocean harbor town on the coast of Maine. I noticed a sign that the harbormaster posted on a pylon at the opening of the harbor. It simply read, “ You are responsible for your wake.” Just as I read that, the Spirit of the Lord began to reveal the Biblical Truths of that warning.
This principle applies to everyone whether they are Christian‘s or not! Sometimes people go through life as though they’ll never have to answer for their actions. They carelessly and recklessly barge through the harbor of life leaving chaos and destruction wherever they’ve been. They don’t care who they hurt. They only weigh the consequences of what they do in light of how it benefits them.
Let me give you a few quick examples of this, and pray that the Holy Spirit shine His light in the darkened rooms of our hearts.
People make promises, and break them for almost no substantial reason….
People lie and cheat to get ahead…
People think only about what best for themselves… (As long as I get mine first!)
People manipulate other people and hurt other peoples feeling and emotions.
People build themselves up, by tearing down others.
The list goes on forever….
“The sad truth is”… that we all have done many of these things at one time or another,,, Regardless of how young or old we are!!! And we’re all likely to continue to do it. It’s part of the curse,,, It’s part of that sin nature that is in all of us, and all around us. Eve did it to Adam the moment she sinned, Cane did it to Able trying to please God. It’s part of the foolishness of Human nature…
“The bad news is,,,,”
As Christians it’s simply not acceptable in the eyes of God. The Bible is full of warnings against actions that hurt other people. Strong Warnings against actions that could be so subtle that they might almost go completely unnoticed but for the person we have offended. At one point the Bible even says that it would be better to have a mill stone tied around our neck and be thrown into the sea if we even cause one “child of God to stumble in his faith.”
This weekend, it’s probably already happened to almost every body here. You’ve either been the receiver, or the perpetrator. Someone’s laughed at another’s person’s mistake, making them feel small or stupid. Someone has snubbed someone else for not being cool, for not dressing “right” for not acting like them. Someone knows more about something than another person and considers themselves “better” then the other people. Sometimes it’s SO SUBTLE!!! No one “snickers” by accident, no one gossips about somebody without intent, “rolling your eyes” at or about someone isn’t an uncontrolled response. It goes on so often that I can’t speak or even imagine how often it’s happened just today, just between us.
What are we to do then? The human spirit is so fragile that even at this very moment, by delivering this message I could be offending someone here.
The answer to our predicament is not a simple one… It’s impossible for anyone to go through life measuring every action and trying to calculate what effect we might be having on another person.
No,,, The answer to our predicament is not a simple one at all; BUT THAT”S NOT AN EXCUSE TO KEEP ON DOING IT! We are not caught against our will in a hopeless trap of continually carelessly crashing through life leaving sinking and drowning people strewn in our wake…
First! We gotta, wanna,,,, We gotta wanna let the Holy Spirit open our eyes to this sin and let the Holy Spirit show us the truth about ourselves. We Gotta wanna begin to care about how our actions effect other people, and we gotta wanna be willing to make the sacrifices it will take to consider other people first, before we act. It has to become a desire of our heart regardless of what it may cost us to follow Christ’s example… It’s requires a fundamental change of character. If we only knew… If we could see what Jesus sees,,, The Bible says about Jesus: Isaiah 42:3 He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. Jesus was very aware of his wake!
Next! It take awareness, We have help here,,, The Bible tells us that if we become “aware” of the Holy Spirit in out lives, He will convict us of our sins, past, present, and future! We have to begin to see ourselves in light of a connected web of people and people’s feelings. Everywhere we go we are connected to a complex web of people. Sometimes all we need to do is talk to one another to avoid hurting each other.
In our families ….
With our friends ….
At school ….
At work ….
At church ….
Lastly, It’s about our motives. It’s about truthfully examining our inner motives. It’s about understanding why we are we doing what we do? Sometimes we do both good and bad things for all the wrong reasons.
Sometimes, we are shaped by pride! : I’ve see boys actually earn their Gold Medal of achievement, not for inner rewards, but for the outward accolade it got them.
Sometimes we are driven by greed! : I know men and women who rally behind a humanitarian cause, only to try to line their pockets with favors and gold.
Sometimes we are consumed by lust! : I’ve watched men ride to the top of their church, leading millions to follow Christ, and leading millions more away from Him, all for the lust for power, wealth, fame, and flesh.
Sometimes we are tickled by arrogance! : I’ve known men so vain that the light that they thought shown through them to the world, blinded their own eyes to their selfish motives never seeing the pain and suffering they brought upon those around them.
The Bible tells us that no one can see the motives of another’s heart, but it’s very clear that the Holy Spirit can, and that all will be revealed in the fullness of time. That which is hidden shall be seen and that our deeds, large or small, good or bad will be revealed to us in the end.
Yes indeed,,,, We are responsible for our wakes.
It’s time we all begin to become aware of them.