When you tell a young overly confident boy that he will achieve great things for God, his mind goes into the stratosphere. He does not realise that great does not necessarily mean big, he does not equate thousands of small acts of faithfulness to great, he sees the spotlight and the big stage.

I have always sympathised with the plight of the servant who was given one talent, his master’s response always seemed overly harsh, but now I can see the grace in it. The master was looking to see who could find greatness in the small things. The everyday things. The things no one notices. This realisation is echoed time and time again in Scripture. What I couldn’t see at 12 was that chances to do great things for God are not rare, they are plentiful.

Luke 19:17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’”

When the Futures document was discussed during a day of prayer those present were asked what they considered the most important thing in the document, given that there are finite resources. In my little cluster of people the work with the children and youth was quickly identified. Later I wondered what God would identify as the most important thing about the church Futures document?

My belief is that in God’s view the most important thing is that such a vision exists. It doesn’t matter that the document or the vision may be lacking, it matters that it exists. It matters that it exists because vision is vital if God is to be able to use His church to do His will in His world. What comes next will be down to the way in which we prayerfully surrender ourselves into His will.

It seems to me that the love Jesus displayed was not a frilly, doily type of love but a love that drove Him to the cross. “Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” said Jesus, and He should know. Jesus’ love caused Him to tell His friends that they showed little faith, to call one of them satan. His love caused Him to call out hypocrites, to upturn tables, to drive crowds into murderous bloodlust. His love drove Him to complete His mission by being tortured and nailed to a tree. His love was patient but it was also true, it was gentle but it was also fierce.

Maybe if we loved more like Jesus we wouldn’t have to convince people that it’s ok to love and be loved by Him. That’s the kind of love I can sign up to.

John 15:12 ‘My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.’

But although parents do fail regularly the issue is not about single events but the whole child. It would be easy to dwell on my own failures. With five children I have been given many opportunities to fail. When I look at my father who is eighty-years old I do not examine his failures but I celebrate his successes. I am proud of my father. It wasn’t easy. I feel similar pride when I see my own children growing as disciples of Jesus. I am proud of the on-going achievement I witness in other areas of their lives. While I aim to treasure their initiative, I love the times they stop and ask me for advice.

The most important principle I have learned as a father is that I do not parent alone. I know that I am fortunate to be supported by a loving and caring wife whose skills as a parent far exceed my own. But a long time ago I realised that God does not expect me to go it alone. Before any of those five children were placed into my care they were in His. He knew them before He formed them in their mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13 and Jeremiah 1:5). I truly believe that God co-parents with us. Why wouldn’t He? I must surrender my children into His hands daily, and myself to His will, if I want my parenting be at His direction and be governed by His wisdom, not my own.

A plague wipes out 70,000, and then God sends His angel to Jerusalem to smash it. But it becomes too much for God and He extends His mercy calling the angel off as he is poised over the threshing floor of Araunah. It’s at this point that David looks out and sees the angel with his sword drawn, poised and David is faced with the place where God’s wrath meets God’s mercy. This threshing floor goes on to be the site of the temple. This visual representation of the wrath/mercy smack down captivated me. I went on to imagine creating metaphoric temples in all the places where I saw wrath meeting mercy including my own life. I started sharing my brilliant idea with other Christians. And then…

Then someone turned round and went ‘That’s like Jesus, isn’t it?’ And it is. In my excitement I missed the obvious. I don’t need to construct metaphoric temples because the temple of Jesus was destroyed and rebuilt in three days. When I look out at all the places where God’s wrath should fall, including my own life, I see Jesus not a building – metaphorical or otherwise.

John 2:19-22 ‘Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.’

The only problem is that making a really good cup of tea that leaves me thirsty for more takes time and effort. There is an element of messing around that does not occur if tea is brewed by just dropping a tea bag into a pot or even a mug and adding boiling water. There are days when I no longer use my special brewing mug and I just get by with boring old tea bags. They are better than nothing and the tea still tastes OK. It just isn’t as good.

Yesterday I opened a new packet of Darjeeling from the Tea House where the original gift was bought. I used my brewing glass. As I drank I knew that the extra effort was worth it. I had three cups of Darjeeling yesterday and have consumed one today already. I am about to make another. But why do I sometimes accept second best?

The choice of tea and the brewing process reflects the spiritual dilemma faced by disciples of Jesus. The challenge is a daily one. At what time should I set the alarm clock? Will I rise early or late? How much time will I give to God? Is it OK to skip through a short Bible reading or some notes? How long should I spend in prayer? Even if a rushed quiet time at the start of the day is perceived as better than nothing, it isn’t as good as spending quality time in God’s presence. I know that I need to stop and look more deeply into His Word. I need to wait before Him, and I need to listen to His voice. If I want my life to be led by Him then I have to drink deeply of the living water. Accepting second best is not sufficient. I want more of Him.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:7-14 (NIV)

I have never been that good at setting aside regular time to read the Bible and pray. It’s not that I haven’t tried – I have. I have tried when I wake up, when I go to bed, before I eat and so on. Every time the same thing happens, I start off strongly but sooner or later I miss a day. One day becomes two and two becomes three I end up giving up what I have started.

Recently however I have managed half a year of quiet times without ceasing. How have I done this? By realising it is all about Jesus whether I realised it or not. My priority became spending time with Jesus not finding time to spend with Jesus, there is a subtle difference. When I prioritise the relationship rather than the arrangement I find it easier to maintain both. I don’t hold myself to a legalistic schedule, I operate grace and somehow it has worked.

I’m currently reading a book called ‘The God Lab’ by Roger Bretherton and he puts it like this: ‘There was a time in my life when I aimed to carry God through my day. It was an admirable aspiration, I think. I just wanted to remain conscious of him in every moment of the day. But it never quite worked. Within two seconds of arriving at work, I was completely immersed in the demands of the day and barely gave God a thought until lunch, when I realised I’d been spiritually oblivious for hours.

But it started to dawn on me that God’s existence didn’t depend on my concentration. He didn’t disappear in a puff of smoke the moment I thought about something else. Irrespective of my attentiveness to him, God often came running to meet me over the course of the day – an answered prayer, a remarkable conversation, a gesture of kindness, a moment of courage or peace. I began to trust that God was in my day whether I knew it or not.

My premise had been wrong. I didn’t need to carry God through my day. He wasn’t some poor cripple who needed my help to get about. God’s already out there, dancing and weaving and doing his thing. And if I have the eyes to notice him, I can join in.’

Bretherton is right. And similarly it is all about Jesus, whether we recognise it or not.

Colossians 1:15-20 ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.’

Ocean and coastal navigation require one other thing of the navigator. It is impossible to calculate your exact position without having a good idea of where you are. When crunching the mathematics for celestial navigation it is necessary to use an estimated (or dead reckoning) latitude and longitude. Similarly, a compass bearing of a lighthouse is useless without knowing where the lighthouse is situated and having an up-to-date chart on which to plot the bearing.

Compared with GPS the old ways sound dated. All GPS requires is a small receiver and the relevant software. Oh, and a network of satellites orbiting earth. But does GPS mean it is no longer necessary to have some idea of where you are? Of course not. What happens if a GPS receiver fails? Or the software crashes or has bugs? Or the battery runs out? And how many of us have been taken the wrong way by GPS in a motor vehicle?

Finding your way as a Christian is no different. If you don’t know where you are now then how can you work out where you are going? Christian life is a journey. It has a beginning, but this is where many choose to sit and go no further. There are comparisons with the sea. It is scary heading out into the ocean. There are dangers. While many are charted, some are not. The weather can change. You could spend an entire voyage without seeing the sun or the stars, but it is still possible to reach your destination if you are equipped, if you have trained, and if you lean on others. As a young navigator I had more experienced senior officers and the captain to turn to if necessary. The shipping company provided all the charts and equipment we needed because it was to their advantage for us to arrive without mishap.

God does not send us out ill equipped for our Christian journey, or without charts. Furthermore, He is always there beside us, just like a Captain discreetly watching his young officers. There is one other thing. Every captain was once a cadet. We need to remember that although God was never a cadet, He has been where we are. Two thousand years ago He made the journey Himself. And it was a lot rougher for Him than it will ever be for us.

It struck me the other day that we sing an awful lot about Jesus being everything, that it’s all about Jesus. And let’s face it they are both excellent sentiments but do they tell the whole story? I mean I know we should give our entire heart to Jesus and He should be our main focus, but is it really all about Jesus? Didn’t Jesus Himself say that we needed to love others as much as we love ourselves?

Could it be that in the act of sacrificially loving others we meet and learn to love Jesus on a whole new level? It seems that focusing on Jesus can be an excuse to ignore the plight of our fellow travellers while still convincing ourselves that we are ‘right with God’.

Maybe when we truly live all for Jesus we will find that our love for fellow man increases, but let’s not be naive – it will take some action on our part. If following Jesus doesn’t change the world or at least benefit everyone, including those who don’t believe, then what’s the point? I know we must prioritise Jesus, but if that doesn’t inspire us to love others then perhaps we need to take another look at the Jesus we have prioritised? Maybe this year living for Jesus can mean living for others too?

Matthew 22: 37-39  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Although I only stayed at sea for two years after the completion of my cadetship I have returned from time to time. Once as part of a ship-delivery team, then as a hydrographic surveyor, and finally as a university researcher looking into one-man bridge operation on small vessels. I couldn’t have fulfilled any of those roles without the training I received at the start of my career and the three years I subsequently spent at university.

As a sixteen-year old I could never have imagined the different jobs I would do later in life, including my current role, which has little to do with maritime matters. But I know that I could not have done any of it without that four-year apprenticeship. Training and preparation is vital. While I cannot see the future, God views my entire life in an instant. He planned it. He sent me to sea because He needed to use that experience later on in my life. He put me where I am now. He has prepared and trained me for everything He has expected from me.

Every now and then I still find myself wondering why I am doing what I am doing in the present. I guess that none of us know why God has put us where we are in the now. Our only options are to trust and to carry on following Him. But I am beginning to realise that everything in life is in some way or form a preparation for what God has in store for me next. And I realise that I am still an apprentice, still learning, still making mistakes, still trying to make my own plans.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-15)