By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
We’ve spent a lot of time with nursery rhymes lately. Today, let’s trade Mother Goose for a swimsuit.
Have you ever done something wonderfully weird?
Nearly 14 years ago, while celebrating our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Sherrie and I traveled to Cozumel, Mexico. One morning we signed up for a snorkeling excursion in the beautiful Caribbean Sea. Our guide took us by boat to a coral reef two miles offshore, and before long we were floating above one of the most breathtaking displays of God’s creation I have ever seen.
It felt like swimming through the world’s largest saltwater aquarium.
Schools of tropical fish glided effortlessly through brilliant coral formations while strange sea plants danced with the rhythm of the sea. Everywhere we looked was beautiful, fascinating, wondrous. Before long, Sherrie and I wandered away from the rest of the group. We weren’t trying to get lost. We simply wanted to enjoy the moment together – We floated. We laughed. We explored.
Then I lifted my head out of the water. I was shocked! Our guide was nowhere in sight. The boat had become a tiny speck against the horizon. Without realizing it, we’d been caught in a rip current and had drifted nearly a mile from where we’d started.
My heart immediately began racing, and I thought, “How did we get this far?” “Where’s our guide?” “Can I swim faster than Sherrie if a shark shows up?” Just kidding. What startled me wasn’t how far we’d drifted. It was that I never felt it happening. The current never announced itself. It never warned us. It simply carried us one little wave at a time until we found ourselves somewhere we never intended to be in the first place.
The longer I live, the more I realize that’s exactly how life works for most. Very few people intentionally drift away from what matters deeply in life. We don’t wake up one morning deciding to neglect our marriage, lose sight of our purpose, become consumed with worry, or slowly replace eternal things with temporary ones. We simply stop looking up.
I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about that and the heart. Not the organ that keeps blood flowing through our bodies, but the heart Scripture describes as the center of our reality. It’s the place where we choose whom we will trust, whom we will follow, and ultimately which direction our lives will take.
Think of the heart as the helm of a ship. The current never stops pushing. The wind never stops blowing. But someone still has to hold the wheel. If no one does, the current of life decides the destination. Jesus understood that better than anyone.
Near the end of Matthew chapter six, after speaking about money, possessions, food, clothing, worry, and tomorrow—all the things that quietly compete for our attention—He gives this simple command:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” ~ Matthew 6:33
For years, I read those words as though Jesus were simply telling me to become more religious. Now I think He was inviting us into something much greater. The Kingdom of God is wherever God’s reality is welcomed. Where His truth replaces deception. Where His peace overcomes fear. Where His forgiveness conquers resentment. Where His love (heart) transforms relationships. Where His will is lived on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus wasn’t asking His followers to escape reality. He was inviting them to live in God’s reality, or His Kingdom, now and forever, rather than drifting through life.
That’s why He chose the word seek. Seeking is intentional. No one accidentally discovers buried treasure. No one accidentally builds a healthy marriage. No one becomes a person of character by accident. And no one becomes like Christ by accident. Every day, the currents of life pull us toward comfort, distraction, fear, approval, success, and self. They never stop, and Jesus never promised they would. Instead, He handed us the initiative weapon by saying, “seek first”. Or, in other words, look up and take hold of life’s helm; choose God’s direction before life’s current chooses one for you.
Initiative is not working harder. It’s not becoming busier. It’s not swimming faster. Initiative is the heart intentionally turning toward God’s reality before the world quietly carries it somewhere else.
I’ve never forgotten that day in Cozumel. Not because we drifted. But because I never realized we were drifting until I looked up. Maybe that’s Jesus’ invitation to each of us today. Look up. Your Guide is still there. The current may still be moving, but it doesn’t have to determine your destination. Because no one drifts into God’s Kingdom or purpose–WE MUST SEEK IT FIRST!
As always…God is here. God is able. God is good.
Pastor Drake
I’ll be continuing this conversation later this week on the Just Sayin’ podcast, where we’ll take a deeper look at The Initiative Weapon: Look Up!
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so, we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.