There was a home show in town this past weekend. It was advertised as the home, cottage, boat and power show. I thought, with a title like that, there had to be something for everyone! So I went.

My wife was away for the weekend so I took in the show by myself. If I had been with Lily, we would have focused on ideas for our cottage. But on my own, I ended up focusing my attention on the boats.

I’m not an experienced boater. I’ve never owned one, and rarely ever driven one, but there is something about boats that attract me. For many years, I’ve thought my brother and I should buy a Seadoo and share it between us. It’s our wives that are keeping us from turning that thought into something we can sit on and jump the waves of Lake Huron with!

At this show, I had no one dragging me to some booth that was selling a showerhead that made you feel like you were in the rain forest. I didn’t have to spend any time listening to someone tell me about how I could clean the siding on my cottage with their miracle product. I didn’t even have to check out all the crafty booths that made things we could – but never would – put up on our walls.

I went straight for the boats. They had all kinds: paddle boats, but they weren’t fast enough; fishing boats, but they were too plain. They had a few Seadoos that caught my attention. But the real attraction was the large inboard motorboats, especially the ones with cabins below the deck.

I had to take my shoes off before I climbed in, but I didn’t mind at all because, if I was buying one of those bad boys, I didn’t want shoe prints all over it. On the other hand, I wasn’t too crazy about having other people’s smelly feet all over my boat (just using my imagination here).

I went right for the driver’s seat, to get the feel of being a skipper. I could imagine the wind blowing my hair back, and envision me yelling to the person sitting beside me just to have a conversation.

After a while, I let someone take my spot behind the wheel. He looked like he could handle it, even though he was only about 13 years old. I decided to check out the cabin. It had everything you would want: a bed, bathroom and kitchen.

Though it was really amazing and beautiful, I now know why people spend most of their time on deck. They can’t stand being down below for all that long! It’s so small! I’m not a big guy but I thought I might have to go on a diet just to get into the bathroom! I pictured all the accidents that would happen in the little kitchen as we’d bump into each other.

Right then I realized, it’s a nice dream – the kind of dream that should stay a dream! I’ll keep the cottage. As I came out of the cabin, I turned to the 13 year old in the captain’s chair and said, “Keep her on course”, and then walked off the end of the boat.

Here’s the thing: We can spend our lives chasing down things we become attracted to, only to find out they’re not all we hoped them to be. We should continually seek to renew our attraction to Christ, because He is more than we could ever hope Him to be … He’s perfect for us!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you stay attracted to Christ? Leave your comment below.