Repairing The Beat-Up Old Boat
In the early 1970s, My Dad, an uncle, and I were fishing in a private lake. (We had permission to fish there.) The bream was biting well, so well that we had an excellent mess in no time. (Mess will be defined later for those who don’t know.)
My Mother’s favorite fish to eat is bream, and the reason we were there was to catch her some fish. (My Dad really liked them too.)
While we were there, we were all there wishing we had a boat, oh with a boat, how much more fun could we have, and how many more fish we could get to, but we didn’t have a boat, so we had to fish from the bank.
When my Dad thought we had enough for a couple of meals, he said “let’s load up” which meant it was time to go.
Then we were loading up the tackle to leave. The last thing we got is the basket of fish out of the water, a man came pulling up and started up a conversation, and then as I brought the basket of fish up:
He said, “How much you want for those fish?” My Dads reply was “they are not for sale.” The man said, “I will give you five dollars for them.” My Dads reply was “they are not for sale.” Then the man said, “How about ten?” My uncle said, “Take it.” My Dads reply was “they are not for sale.” The man then said, “fifteen and that’s as high as I will go.” Again, my uncle told my Dad, “Take it.”
And again, my Dads reply was “they are not for sale.”
The man got in his old beat up truck, backed up, and started to pull out ahead of us Then he hung his head out the window and yelled, “Twenty dollars and that’s as high as I will go”.
My Dad said, “SOLD for twenty dollars.”
The man said, “Follow me, I live just up the road, and I get the money, and you give me the fish.”
When we arrived at his home, my Dad saw an old beat-up boat beside the house, which had fallen out of a truck while going down the road.
My Dad said, “What do you want for that old, beat-up boat?”
The man said, “Twenty dollars… and another mess of them bream.”
My Dad stood there for a few minutes and pondered for a while, he never made rash, quick decisions. Then he said “SOLD” and gave the man his twenty back and said we would have him another mess of fish tomorrow, and we would pick up the boat.
The next day, we did just as my Dad said, we caught another good mess of fish and took them to the man and got the boat.
It’s a 14-foot-long boat, plenty deep enough to feel safe in most small lakes. 3 bench seats in the boat and 1 on the front end.
Everything we always wanted.
But the front was bent up, the rail around the front was gone, there was a hole in the back corner, and the handles on the back were gone.
What some people would see as useless and not much good for anything, my Dad saw a fishing boat and years of enjoyment. He and my brother Glenn, and I worked for days getting the boat sea worthy (really lake and pond worthy, I really wouldn’t put this boat in the sea).
My Dad carefully straightened the front down where it belonged, took an aluminum door frame and made new rails to replace the missing ones.
Took what He called refrigerator epoxy and patched the hole in the back, then put a few layers of fiberglass over the hole. He made two new handles out of copper pipe and put a new plywood backboard in for his trolling motor.
Then, with an old flat smoothing iron on one side and a body hammer on the other, He and Glenn reset all the rivets.
Painted the outside, and the old, beat-up boat was good to go.
That was some 50 years ago, and I gave the old boat to my nephew, Glenn’s son. Over the years, we have improved on the old boat. I put anchor tie downs on it, 2 swivels, and raised padded seats. A new trolling motor and a depth and fish finder.
I have no idea how many hundreds of times I loaded and unloaded that boat, and the number of fish that were caught out of that old, beat-up boat.
I often think of myself like that old beat-up boat. I felt as if I was beaten up by circumstances beyond my control, beaten up emotionally, and thrown away. I was here, but not good for much. I was getting lower and lower, to the point that didn’t even see why I needed to be alive.
But GOD, don’t you just love that? But God stepped in and saw something of some value, something that He could get some use out of, someone that He could SAVE. And He did just that.
God looked down and what I thought was someone who was beyond repair, God saw something of value. And as David said in Psalms 139, that I am “wonderfully made” and so are you!
Psalms 139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. NKJV
But I think our problem today is we live in a disposable word, we have paper plates and cups so when we are done eating, we just trash them, we have disposable gloves, disposable cameras, disposable diapers, disposable tissues instead of handkerchiefs, (I guess the tissues and diapers are a good thing to trash.) and even now we have disposable people.
I’m afraid we give up too quickly on people, just because they don’t seem to fit into our way of thinking.
This day and time, because you may not be a Republican, I can’t be your friend, or if you don’t go along with the Democrat’s I just won’t talk to you anymore. (I really lost a great friend just because of the way I voted in this last presidential election.)
It’s where people are disposable, and that’s a shame, I heard a preacher say just recently that you never looked anyone in the eyes that Jesus didn’t love.
The Bible says in First Peter:
1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. NKJV
That’s how much Jesus loves you.
A friend of mine, Tim Croft, said his Dad came by his office, and he saw a man at the end of a hall and called him over, and I love what he said to this stranger.
He said, “Sir, did you know that if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it, that’s how much He loves you.”
Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” NKJV
But we just throw the beat-up people away because we see no worth.
It’s been said that it seems that only the Church shoots its wounded.
Which brings me to a song that was released in January of 1983.
“Don’t Shoot the Wounded,” by Chuck Girard:
Don’t shoot the wounded, they need us more than ever
They need our love, no matter what it is they’ve done
Sometimes we just condemn them and don’t take time to hear their story
Don’t shoot the wounded, someday you might be one
It’s easy to love the people who are standing hard and fast
Pressing on to meet that higher calling
But the ones who might be struggling, we tend to judge too harshly
And refuse to try and catch them when they’re falling
We put people into boxes, and we draw our hard conclusions
And when they do the things, we know they should not do
We sometimes write them off as hopeless
And we throw them to the dogs
Our compassion and forgiveness sometimes seem in short supply
So, I say…
Don’t shoot the wounded, they need us more than ever
They need our love, no matter what it is they’ve done
Sometimes we just condemn them and don’t take time to hear their story
Don’t shoot the wounded, someday you might be one.
The Bible says in The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own load. NKJV
Bear one another’s burdens, did you get that?
Back to the song:
We can love them and forgive them
When their sin does not exceed our own
For we to have been down bumpy roads before
But when they commit offenses outside the boundaries, we have set
We judge them in a word, and we turn them out,
And we close the door
Myself, I’ve been forgiven for so many awful things
I’ve been cleansed and washed and bathed so many times
That when I see a brother who has fallen from the way
I just can’t find the license to convict him of his crimes
So, I say…
Don’t shoot the wounded, they need us more than ever
They need our love no matter what it is they’ve done
Sometimes we just condemn them
And don’t take time to hear their story
Don’t shoot the wounded, someday you might be one.
The Bible says that the strong in the faith need to help those who are weak:
Romans 15:1 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” NKJV
Romans 14:1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. NKJV
I think the Bible is pretty clear that we need to help fix those beat-up people.
Back to the song:
That doesn’t mean we turn our heads when we see a brother sin
And pretend that what he’s doing is all right
But we must help him see his error, we must lead him to repent
Cry with those who cry, but bring their deeds into the light
For it’s the sick that need the doctor,
And it’s the lame that need the crutch
It’s the prodigal who needs the loving hand
For a man who’s in despair, there should be Kindness from his friends
Lest he should forsake the fear of almighty God
And turn away from God and man
We sometimes think that the church is only for the righteous and the sin-free, and that is where we miss the mark. The church doors need to be opened to all who need God, and that includes EVERYONE!!!
The Bible is clear in:
1 Thessalonians 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. NKJV
James 5:19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. NKJV
Back to the song:
So, I say… Don’t shoot the wounded, they need us more than ever
They need our love, no matter what it is they’ve done
Sometimes we just condemn them
And don’t take time to hear their story
Don’t shoot the wounded, someday you might be one.
The Prophet Isaiah said:
Isaiah 58:6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ NKJV
So, when you see a beat-up person, one beat down by wrong decisions, bad relationships, and doesn’t look like the normal people in your church, the one you would probably wouldn’t give a second glance, just know that very person has the same Jesus that died for them as for you.
Romans 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. NKJV
As my Dad saw worth in an old beat-up boat, God sees worth, value, substance, merit, and meaning in you, because;
“You are fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works,”
God said so, not me.
“And that my soul knows very well.”
So,
Don’t shoot the wounded, they need us more than ever
They need our love, no matter what it is they’ve done
Sometimes we just condemn them
And don’t take time to hear their story
Don’t shoot the wounded, someday you might be one.
Let us repair the “Beat up Old Boats” in our lives, because God has plans for them!
