Step 5 of 14The day the sea gets in the boat

In It, Not Of It

I woke up on the water with no memory of the shoreDidn't choose the storm I'm in, and I don't recall no moreBut I wasn't dropped here by accident, I wasn't left to driftI was launched out on this water to be proved and to be built

My grandfather said it best, and I've carried it for years"A boat belongs upon the sea, that's what she's built to doBut the day the sea gets in the boat, that's the day she's through"

I'm in it, not of itSailin' water that I can't drinkI'm in it, not of itLet it hold me up, don't let me sinkThe tide don't get to tell me who I amI've got a harbor and a heading and a handI'm in it, not of itAnd I'm rowin' for the other side

Now it don't come in like a breaker, it don't come in like a floodIt's a hairline in the timber where you swore the seal was goodOne hour, then an evenin', then you're bailin' every dayAnd you never felt the moment that the water got its way

I lay aside the things of this world and I seek a better oneAnd I check my seams on Sunday and I check 'em on my knees'Cause the compass only points for the man who heeds

He never asked the Father take us outHe asked Him keep us from the evil round aboutHe sent us out among the waves to learnTo do His will, to serve Him, and to turn'Cause a boat that's never wet ain't worth the woodShe was built to reach the men no harbor could

I'm in it, not of itAnd I'm pullin' hard for the ones gone downI'm in it, not of itAin't a one of 'em too far to bring aroundSo throw your arm across this rail and climbThere's room in here for you and room for mineWe're in it, not of itAnd the harbor lights are up aheadWe're rowin' home

The sea ain't never got insideThe hull is holdin' trueThere's a harbor up ahead of usAnd we're rowin' home to You

The story

There's an old saying the song is built on: a boat belongs on the sea; that's what she's built to do. But the day the sea gets in the boat, that's the day she's through. I don't know a better picture of what the Savior asked of us.

On the night before He went into the garden, Jesus prayed for His disciples. Listen to what He asked: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." Then He said, "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." He didn't want us hidden away in a harbor. He sent us out on purpose. That's the plan of salvation. We came here "to prove them herewith," Abraham says, and you can't be proven in the dry dock.

But the sea is the sea. You can't drink it, and you can't let it in. And the song is honest about how it gets in. It doesn't come like a breaker. It comes through a hairline crack in the timber, right where you swore the seal was good. One hour, then an evening, then you're bailing every day, and you never felt the moment the water got its way. That's the adversary's favorite door. Not a flood. A leak you don't notice.

So the man in the song checks his seams on Sunday, and he checks them on his knees. That's what the sacrament is for, and daily prayer, and repentance. They aren't a burden. They're how a boat stays dry. The Lord told Emma Smith to "lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better." And like Lehi's family with the Liahona, he knows the compass only points for the one who gives it heed. It worked by faith and diligence and heed, and it stopped working when they quit.

Then the song turns, and this is the part I love most. In the final chorus he isn't just keeping himself afloat anymore. He's pulling hard for the ones gone down, sure there isn't one of them too far to bring around. The Jaredites crossed the ocean in barges that were buried in the deep again and again, and the Lord kept driving them toward the promised land. A boat that's never wet ain't worth the wood. She was built to reach people no harbor could.

President Russell M. Nelson taught that because Jesus Christ overcame the world, we can overcome it too, by making and keeping covenants with God, and that as we do, we find rest. That's the secret of living in it and not of it. The Savior is the One who keeps the hull true. He's the harbor up ahead. And when you're serving the people still in the water, King Benjamin says, you're only in the service of your God.

Sources

Think about it

Where has a little of the world been seeping into your boat so slowly that you've stopped noticing it, and who out there in the water might you be failing to reach because of it?

Tonight

Check your seams. Kneel tonight and ask Heavenly Father to show you one small leak to fix, and one person you could reach out to this week. Then write both down.

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