Don’t forget the surf board

It was a beautiful Tuesday morning and the surf was up. My son Stevie and I had plans to go surfing. I gathered my things and headed out for our surfing destination. We parked next to each other and began the ritual of getting into our wetsuits. Every surfer has their own preparation rituals before the paddle out. We both had our wetsuits on and were applying sunscreen when I reached for a bar of wax so I could wax my board. Wait a second, I thought to myself — I have the wetsuit on, I’ve applied sunscreen, all I need to do is wax the board… but the board is conspicuously missing.

There is a first time for everything, and after 50 years of surfing, I forgot the most important thing: my surfboard! My son was laughing in disbelief. “Dad, you forgot the surfboard?” For those of you who are not surfers, the surfboard is the most important thing when you go surfing. I drove back to our house and picked up the board. The story ends well — we ended up having a fun surf session together.

If the surfboard is the most important thing in surfing, what is the most important thing for a Christian? Actually, it’s not one thing… but it’s not a lot of things either. Let’s start with God awareness. How many times throughout the day do you think about God? Is prayer a part of your daily routine? How about reading or listening to God’s Word? Do you go to church? These are all part and parcel of living the Christian life. To not pray or read your Bible or go to church is like a surfer forgetting their surfboard.

Let’s take a closer look at these three very important priorities.

Prayer tunes us into the presence of God. It’s part of the God-awareness we experience when we have communicated with Him. Prayer is our lifeline to God.

Next, we have the Word of God. Every serious follower of Jesus needs to know the Word of God. If we are not being guided and influenced by it, then we can’t expect to live productive Christian lives. It’s like a surfer without a surfboard.

What about church? I talk to people occasionally who don’t go to church and yet consider themselves to be Christians. I’m not saying you can’t be a Christian if you don’t go to church. You can — but you will be like the surfer who keeps his surfboard in the garage but never surfs. And when they occasionally go surfing, they surf very poorly. Why? They are not in surfing shape. The locals don’t even recognize them.

My point is this: if you want to experience all God has for you, then you need to pray daily, read the Word of God daily, and go to church whenever possible. Otherwise, you are like a surfer without a surfboard.

Stay close to Jesus,

Steve