Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The Anchor

UV 2251/10000 The Anchor
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Hebrews 6 v 19

The concept of anchor is thrown up in this uni-verse as a precept to follow, a concept to understand and apply to life, leadership and management. Our souls or minds need an anchor as these are always travelling from one thing to another, sometimes at great speed. We need anchors for our souls and spirits to face the storms of life. When we worry over a particular thing we are facing a thought storm and we need to anchor our minds lest we get driven onto the rocks of sorrow, frustration and desperation. Our anchor needs to be strong and secure, so that the storm does not blow it this way or that. Anchoring then is a thought process based on trust and faith in the Lord. By means of this anchoring process, we can remain calm and peaceful even when a storm is raging all round us.

We need to view ourselves as boats and ships travelling in the ocean called God as He is more infinite than the universe itself, His creation. Jesus helps us anchor in this ocean. He is the anchor of our spiritual storms. He holds us in a place of safety when the world faces the wrath of His judgement. He is the anchor of our hearts and minds who is sure or stable and steadfast or faithful. His stability and faithfulness is proven in history. Now, we only need to have the certain hope that He will prove faithful, stable and able to fulfil His promises to us. Justification of our souls before God is His responsibility, rectification is our response implying that we need to make course corrections to the navigation chart of our lives. All the time we are personally related and connected with God through Christ we are anchored and all the time we are not connected, we are unhinged, unsafe, unprotected.

In the book of Acts when the ship on which Paul was being escorted under guard to Rome faced a tempest, they cast down four anchors to stabilise the ship and keep it from getting wrecked on the rocks of the nearby shore. Yet it was not these anchors that saved the lives of all on the ship but Paul’s faith in the saving power of Jesus. The ship itself was eventually lost but all the lives on board were saved. Very often in lives, we come upon situations that are like huge storms, situations over which we have no control. During these storms, the Lord reveals His grace and power by preserving us from great harm. It is always a temptation to trust certain physical or natural anchors like our finances, our earthly connections, our abilities but Jesus is the single and ultimate Anchor of our souls. He is the Anchor of human history, too and of eternity. We need to spend time each day anchored to Him or tethered to Him like a ship is tied with strong ropes that cannot be easily broken even by the mightiest winds and waves. The powerful ropes connecting us with Jesus are prayer, word, the Holy Spirit, faith, hope and love.

Prateep V Philip

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