Lessons from a Sailboat 6

Lesson 6: The Purpose of Sails

Sails are what define a sailboat. People stand on the shore and look out at sailboats because of the sails. But sails do more than make a boat look good. They are essential for moving the boat through the water. They have a purpose. They act like the engine in a power boat, except that they draw their power from the wind. On most yachts you will see two sails: A large sail (called the mainsail) attached to a mast, and a smaller sail (called the foresail or jib) attached to a line at the front of the boat. The sails are what drive the boat. Without sails, a sailboat would go nowhere.

The Purpose Driven Life is a popular book that focuses on what drives a Christian to action and service. I like to think that the purpose of our life is like the sails on the sailboat. Without a purpose we will get nowhere. We will be driven by every wind and tide around us, by every popular belief and every fashionable activity. What is your life’s mainsail? What do you consider the main reason you exist? What are your smaller goals? If you are to progress in your faith and life, you need to know your priorities and set your life’s sails to those purposes.

Galatians 4:18

It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.