Who is the captain of your soul?

Many of us drift through life as though our ship (our body) has no captain. Even at the best of times with you at the helm of your ship, navigating through life presents daily dangers. And you would agree, I'm sure, that the best-trained captains per capita seem to be those people who sail through life with fewer crises. At sea, someone once said, one degree off on the compass can put you on the rocks; so is it any wonder that we must remain vigilant in our watch while we sail the seas of this life for our first and last time, for one time only? Do you direct your ship in the way it should go, or does your ship take you wherever the whims of happenstance dictate. Are you really the captain of your ship?

If you are really the captain of your ship, you know how to attend to the various currents in life's sometimes turbulent seas. You know enough to stay away from the whirlpools, cross-currents, and undercurrents. In short, you steer free of troubled waters. You make the decisions. If you are really the captain of your ship, you also know how to perform your nautical calculations in all sorts of winds, from the zephyrs to near gale force winds. At the same time you know enough not to tangle with the whirlwinds, hurricanes and tornadoes. Once again, you make the decisions. During these times you moor in safe harbours. But what happens when someone whispers in your ear?

As you are, in the end, responsible for yourself and the captaincy of you (the ship of you) so too was the captain of the Titanic (if we now follow the story line of the box office hit) responsible not only for himself but also for the safety of thousands of passengers. Whether these passengers had faith directly or indirectly in the captain or that ship, or whether or not they even stopped to think about who was at the helm is not the moot point here. For the ship reputed to be the ship that even God could not sink, the captain was remiss in his duties. Faith in the unsinkability of the ship or faith in the experience of the captain was misguided faith as viewers learned. The captain succumbed to the temptation of the possibility of retiring in glory by crossing the Atlantic at a breakneck speed to reach New York ahead of schedule. Someone whispered in his ear, so to speak. Full speed ahead and caution to the winds. True or false, the persona created in the captain depicted a person willing to abandon all previous training and experience. The vanity of one left 1 500 lives undone, frozen and forsaken in the frigid Atlantic in a floating cemetary. In light of that, into whose hands does one place his/her soul? Do we ever really know who the captain of any ship is? The pilot of any plane? The driver of any car? The leader of any country? The shepherd of any flock?

Alongside of eternity this life perishes in the twinkling of an eye. Hebrews 9:27 states that man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. The fact of the matter is that we all die. Even though you feel you may be the captain of your ship (your life), who, indeed, is the captain of your soul? Who is at its helm? Would you want the captain of the Titanic as the captain of your soul?

Today you can turn over for safekeeping the captaincy of your soul to Jesus Christ, the son of God, who came once to die for your sins and who will captain your soul into eternity the moment your last breath leaves you. 1 John 4:15 states, "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God (captain of your soul), God lives in him/her and he/she in God." By accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour today, you can find no better captain for your soul. You know who your other choice is. Who will be the captain of your soul?