Setting the Sail

I was not going to post another entry for a while but i have received a few emails today asking about what i mean by setting the sail, as the idea of pursuit is going to be an ongoing idea for the year (tho not all the time) i will clarify what i mean by it.

Setting the sail is a nautical term used to catch wind to enable the ship to go forward or in the desired direction, it was a requirement of a sailor to be able to catch the wind, to move the ship. A really good sailor could take a westerly wind and move the ship in an easterly direction and vis versa, it was down to experience, watching waiting looking at the clouds, the swell of the sea, all these things enabled him to catch the wind and move.

So it is with setting the sail for the things of God, a sloppy sail will flap in the breeze make a lot of noise but ultimately not move the ship forward a great deal. We need to catch the wind of the Spirit to enable us to move forward, we are called to be filled with the Spirit of God, filled so we can move forward, filled so we can fulfil what God wants. So when we are filled do we sit flapping in the breeze, making a lot of noise and not moving forward or do we tighten down the sails and move with the Spirit of God? Setting the sails to move is not an overnight quick fix, it requires work, it will require us to watch, to listen, to see the swell of the sea, to see the direction the wind is blowing, to set the sails of our lives in God in the direction he is leading us. We can decide to keep flapping in the breeze if we want to, or we can move forward with God, just don't blame God for not moving if you are flapping in the breeze. God wants and desires to move us forward, is our desire to move with him or to stay static? We have a choice just like the sailor on the ship, he has to set the sail to catch the breeze and wind, he makes the decision to drift aimlessly or to move with the wind, we have those same choices.