Ice Can Sink a Boat

“How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Psalm 32:1-7

Tony was a professional salt-water fisherman. He explained how he cruised out to sea each morning, coming back each evening with his catch. “Is there a part of the year you can’t go out?” I asked. “The winter - too risky. Below freezing, the spray starts forming ice on the bow. The added weight makes the boat lie lower in the water. Inexperienced guys fishing in winter have allowed so much to build up on the bow that in heavy seas the bow starts to dip beneath the waves. One dip too deep, and she goes down. Only thing to do for it is to grab an ax and knock the ice off once in a while. If you forget and let it build up, you’re dead.”

Think of that bow-ice as representing sin. Little by little it builds up until you can’t stay spiritually afloat a moment longer. We modern believers face a similar challenge. Little by little, day by day, let’s keep the “ice” off our bows. Let’s not wait until it’s too late, until our “bow” dips too deep to recover.