Carried about by the winds

These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; - Jude 1v12

I am not a sailor by any stretch of the imagination. I have a hard time with bow and stern and port and starboard. I can handle a canoe, a rowboat, or a simple motor boat, but that is about it.

I do know enough to know that if a boat or ship is not anchored it will be blown and tossed about during a storm. It will be at the mercy of the wind and the waves.

Living in Ireland we know a little about the wind. Most folks don’t think about the wind as being a part of the Irish climate, but we can have some great windstorms. If the clothes are not secure to the line they will simply blow away.

These illustrations are yet another picture of the dangers of false teachers. They have no stability. They have no anchor. Every new wind of doctrine that comes along blows them about. Every new exciting fad that comes to the fore drags them along. They have no foundation. Their house is built on shifting sands.

The tragedy is that it is so easy for true believers to be caught in the same trap. Every new gimmick, as long as it is done ‘in the name of Christ’ tosses them about. Just like the clothes on the back line they simply disappear when a new wind blows.

The thing about the winds is that they are always changing. There is no place to find an anchor of stability. Christians can spend their whole lives fluttering back and forth between all kinds of teachings and fads.

Our anchor is the word of God. Rock solid, unchanging, secure, and stable. We do not need the fleeting winds that can only carry us to destruction. Let’s be sure that we cling to the anchor, steadfast and sure while the billow roll.