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"Come with us! This is a fantastic deal!" Several years ago, our friends were trying to persuade my husband and me to join them on a week-long cruise up the west coast of Canada to Alaska, USA. In the middle of May, the cruise line was trying to fill up spaces in this shoulder season. Quickly making up our minds, we also signed up, at a discount even greater than our friends received.
This holiday, we soon found out, was much different than other trips that we'd been on. We were used to walking, sightseeing, and — on our winter holidays in the warm climates of southern USA — working on various projects such as construction, painting, kitchen prep, landscaping, and whatever else that our hosts in the Servants on Wheels Ever Ready (SOWER) ministry wanted us to do.
We weren't used to the decadent lifestyle of sitting reading a book, eating, watching for whales, eating, chatting with strangers, and eating again. A cold wind nixed the idea of playing tennis on the deck. I found myself looking forward to mealtimes with their fabulous buffets, not only at one location on board, but at several. Such a choice of foods! I tried to be wise with my selections, picking items that I seldom had at home — healthy ones, like salmon, my favourite. What a variety of salads and vegetables! Desserts were hard to resist. I'll just have a couple of these tiny cakes. They look pretty light, I thought to myself. The breakfast buffet tempted me with far more food than I usually ate in the morning. Using the stairs between decks instead of the elevator was a good idea, but it didn't really burn off too many calories. Soon, we were feeling very stuffed, and the thought of another meal was not as exciting as it first was.
We discovered that in order to enjoy our food, we had to be hungry. We couldn't enjoy it when we were still stuffed from the last meal.
Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (NIV)
1 John 2:15-16 – Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. (NLT)
We have to be truly hungry for the things of God before He can fill us. God designed us with a longing in the soul which can be satisfied only by Him, but if we're too stuffed with the concerns and pastimes of this world, there is no room for Him. To enjoy the love of the Father, we have to give up our own agenda and truly desire that which brings lasting fulfillment. Let's not be stuffed with the things of this world, at the expense of being satisfied by the Lord.
Prayer: Help us, Lord, not to be so full of the things of this world that You are unable to fill us with all the blessings that You want to give us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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Amen, Alice, Amen! Blessings.
Thanks for the wise words, Alice.
Well said Alice. I agree with everything you wrote about cruising!
Thanks, Alice. What a great perspective on cruising! This is the key thought:
God designed us with a longing in the soul which can be satisfied only by Him, but if we’re too stuffed with the concerns and pastimes of this world, there is no room for Him.
Alice, thanks for confirming what my untested opinion is about the downsides of such trips. Your choice of scriptures are excellent reminders about longing for things of the world instead of the riches found in Christ’s provisions and our own faithful stewardship of them.
Many thanks Alice for another of your special writings. Yes it really is much better for us to take time to pay attention to the instructions of our loving Jesus than to fill our time with trivial things that really have no positive value to our daily lives. Blessings for these meaningful writings you submit.
Amen to that Alice.
Whenever we travel to Nassau (every winter prior to COVID), I very much enjoyed our time there, but always marveled at the water, white sand, in other words, the beauty of our God’s creation. We never took it for granted either.
Blessings.
Morning Alice,
Your devotional this morning rings true on many levels. We have experienced the same cruising “dilemma” as you have. W. is much more disciplined than I… perhaps because I do the cooking around here and am so appreciative when someone else cooks! I found myself using the stairs lots!
Additionally, your comparison with our situation in the world is very apt.
Thanks, Alice.
Thank you for sharing. The message was positive for sure, however I was mostly listening to your actual trip.
My husband and I also visited our Canadian Alaska …our son actually attended a special school there, one that helped him when he was having troubles at school. If you are able, just the drive alone is awesome. So much of nature to enjoy, wildlife, the town is awesome, a lovely museum, shops, lakes. BC and upward. We drove up, visited the town / city .Then continued our drive right up to where your ship landed (I imagine ) then we drove home by a different road as close to the coast as possible. Awesome animals to see and good, kind people, lots of B and B stops. It is a lovely spot in Canada to visit!!
N. S. is lovely too. part of a wonderful world!!
We are hungry when trouble strikes – sometimes this is good as we have to depend on our faith and our faith grows.
Dear Alice,
Thank you for sharing this wake-up call! Beautifully written, yet with such a powerful message.