Weighing Anchor

And so, my friends, we'll say goodnight,
for time has claimed his prize,
but tonight can always last,
as long as we keep alive,
the mem'ries of Paradise’

(‘’The Best of Times’  from the 1981 album ‘Paradise Theater’ by STYX)

Riding back from the capital district, I notice some excavation equipment in this shopping mall..

This mall always caught my attention,

        As I always looked to see if it was finally empty.

‘cause the only thing in it

            For years..

was a very small ‘bank’ branch…one of a chain.

All the ‘anchor stores’ had pulled out

         and it amazed me that it was the only thing left.

 Lights on…business as usual.

Of course, my mind starts to wander..

 1.) They probably held the mortgage.

And of course 2.)…

      The life span of a mall…

             and its ‘anchor’ stores.

Funny,

that it is a proven place of investment,

                                that kept this mall alive.

             As I go through life..my ‘anchor’ stores have been revealed to me.

And they weren’t ‘the Bank’…

        they were just my favorite places to shop.

sure

         its personal…between you and you know Who.

 but if your ‘big names’ left ‘your’ mall..

                     the people, places, things..

                                Would there still be enough

                                               

                     to live on?

you may realize those ‘anchor stores’ that you like to shop.

          may be the very ones holding you back..

                              from moving forward

                                         

                                        with your ‘investments’.

I pulled over

                And looked.

                                         There stood ‘the Bank’.

          ‘It’ was enough.

Weighing ‘anchors’

          ‘People’

²⁰ Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) ²¹ When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

 ²² Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

                  ‘places’..

²John 4

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

 ‘things’.. 

Mark 6:8 

 ⁸ These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.

Nice places to ‘shop’ can become

                                        the ‘anchors’ in our mall.

Weighing anchor..

just between you and God.

                                                 is it worth it ?

 Jesus..

                        is He enough?

Do you look more like your anchors…

¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own….

or Him..

As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

 ⁶⁶ While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. ⁶⁷ When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.

   “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.                    

¹⁵ All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

You know,

 as I read the gospels, and look around..I ask not just myself…but Jesus the Christ..

‘were You ‘enough’

         just for that generation??…that first 100 years???’

Or

   is what was True then…an eternal Truth.

“… you must follow Me.”

Pulled over, I looked at that One Bank. It was enough.

      Think about your ‘anchor stores’

Has Jesus the Christ changed?

                     Or is He still…Enough.             

Make a decision Today….

        Between Christ compromised…

                        Or Christ crucified       

Heading on..

 I rode by one of those magnificent houses of worship with all the stained glass..

 And thought

                  maybe..

                   unobstructed by our ‘good intentions’…

                                               with out our ‘anchor stores’.

That’s What Christ looks like….in you and me.

              Displaying the only ‘colors’ that matter.

                       Those unobstructed…

                                    so Light shines through each transparent pane.

                                             Displaying a magnificent array..

                                                        of true believers.

²⁹ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

Believing this…is to let go of your ‘anchor stores’

                Believing this…

                        Christ is enough.