Ships Weren't Built to Sit in the Dock

    
     I think it would be a pretty safe bet to assume most of us have heard the popular song "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Matter of fact it would be a fair presumption that most of us would jump right in and sing along with Otis if the tune was to pop up on your music list right now. It has that melodious rhythm that just seems to pull us in, "I'm just a sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tides roll away, I'm sitting on the dock of the bay wasting time....", wait a second, sitting on the dock of the bay doing what?? Wasting time? Okay, I'm all good with taking a little time to sit down and reflect or to just sit down and take a little break, but I'm not too sure about sitting around just wasting my time. Time is a commodity and if you haven't figured it out it has a limited supply label on the package, the fact is we don't know exactly how much time we have in our supply chain. That being said, I don't believe we have a great deal of time to be sitting around wasting our reservoir of time here on this old rock.
     I heard a quote a long time ago and it has always resonated deep into my mind that is aptly in tune with today's thought, "Ships weren't built to sit in the dock". Now this was a quote that was being used in the context of a conversation on leadership, but like I always say, we are all leaders of someone. What were ships built for? The obvious is to set sail, but there is so much more, to carry us to our destinations, to allow us to explore where we could not explore before, or even to give us a new perspective on life as we know it. Ships can't do that sitting in the dock of the bay! And neither can you.
     It would definitely be sad to buy a boat and then allow it to just sit there tied up at the dock. Sitting there wasting time, I mean come on Otis what could you be doing with all that time you are sitting there wasting? Ships were built to explore and discover, we were made to explore and discover. If we just sit there at our dock of the bay we certainly can't have the impact on our world we live in, it just won't happen. We have to go out and explore, trust me you won't have to travel very far to find a cause or your purpose in life if you just get out and start looking around.
       It is a sad sight to see a boat sitting there all tied down protecting it from the waves and the storms that are bound to happen, yet for us to sit there tied down because either you just don't want to see what is out there due to being so self-centered, or we get lulled into a passive state of just sitting around wasting time. Yuck! I don't have time to sit around wasting it! I have lives to impact, I have encouragement to share, and I have a hope that is grounded in faith in God that gives me the energy I need to go full speed ahead!
      If you take a few minutes to read the lyrics of the song "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" can almost be depressing. Sad to think that a boat let alone a person would be stuck just sitting there watching the tide roll in and away, all day every day just sitting around wasting time. Don't get caught in that trap, sitting around is a symbolic representation of not getting anything accomplished. Not volunteering to help others, not stepping up and stepping out to lend a hand, or just being so self- absorbed that you sit around thinking you don't have anything that needs to be done in the world you live! A scripture I live by fits appropriately here today "Whatever you do, work heartily (GO EXTREME!!), as for the Lord and not for men" Colossians 3:23 Ships weren't built to sit in the dock and neither were you!
Set sail what are you waiting on?
Coach Carter