Strapped to the Mast

Sometimes I wonder if I'm simply strapped to the mast, and if someone undid the ropes, I would fall headlong into the song of the Sirens.

In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus was passing through the place where the Sirens would sing their beautiful songs and draw sailors to their death. He wanted to hear their song, but still maintain his life, so he had his sailors strap him to the mast and bind him with ropes. Then he put wax in their ears so that they would not be drawn to the Siren call. He writes:

"So they sang in lovely tones. From the bottom of my heart I longed to listen, and I ordered the men to set me free, nodding my head and working my brows; but they simply went on pulling with a good swing. Perimedes at once got up, and put more ropes round me and fastened me tighter."

Am I doing the same thing? Are the "ropes" that bind me merely the restraints of my upbringing? Are they the rules of a society that strains to have a semblance of morality? Am I self-bound by my own understanding or even wishful thinking on a life that I see lived out in Scripture? Are they the traditions and expectations of "two thousand years of Church"?? Am I getting deeper into God, or am I simply crying out for "more ropes!" ????

Again, sometimes I worry that if these ropes, self-imposed or church-imposed, were removed that I would run to the world and its desires, thus revealing the true bent of my heart. Honestly, this scares me. I don't want to be bound, I want to be free, so that I can truly serve and reach out to the hurting out of love, not duty. I want to give up things that are hindering me because I desire the Greater Love, not out of fear of losing something.

There is another part to the story that plays into this thought. Later, the Argonauts approached the same situation, but instead of binding themselves up in ropes so that they restrain their natural desires, they have their musician, Orpheus, play a sweeter song than the song of the Sirens. This song draws them in so that the call of the Sirens is not a temptation. It is a lesser call. Ropes are never needed against a lesser call.

I want to hear the better song, the sweeter sound. I don't want more ropes to bind me. I want to be free to follow Jesus, the one true Voice. I want to be so in love with Christ that the world holds no allure for me. I want to "get it."

I would like to lay these thoughts out there to think about:

• You cannot truly serve your fellow man if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot truly forgive a brother who hurt you if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot truly go the extra mile, seek peace and pursue it, be a spiritual pacifist, if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot truly worship the Lord in spirit and in truth if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot honestly say, "He must increase, I must decrease" if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot have true victory over your hindering sins if you are strapped to the mast.
• And you cannot get rid of all the other competing voices, if you are strapped to the mast.

Isaiah 30:21 " Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear A Voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Ropes can pull you in a direction, but the Voice of God can draw you into it, and there is a huge difference. It's called the HEART.