The Anchor Holds

The Anchor Holds

By Pastor Jim May

Hebrews 6:16-20, "For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."

There’s a song that Ray Boltz made popular a few years ago that is titled, “The Anchor Holds”. The chorus of that song says this:

The anchor holds

Though the ship is battered

The anchor holds

Though the sails are torn

I have fallen on my knees

As I faced the raging seas

The anchor holds

In spite of the storm

On March 6, 1948, at approximately 8:20 AM, my ship set sail for the first time upon the seas of life and for a little over 58 years now that ship has been sailing. In those 58 years there have been a lot of trials and tests. I believe that all of you can say the same thing because I’m not in this boat alone. We are all in this ship together. Your journey may have begun many years before mine, or perhaps you haven’t been in this ship quite as long, but you’re in it now and all you can do is just sail on until your journey comes to its end and you step onto that far shore to receive your eternal reward.

For a long time I sailed on life’s troubled seas, not knowing where I was going, or even why I was here. How many of you can relate to that? James described my condition like this in James 1:6, "… that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." My ship was constantly being tossed around by the waves of life.

One minute the seas of life would be as smooth as a glass and the next minute, the waves would roll, the winds of adversity would blow, and I had lost control. I know that there are many out there who would try to tell you that they are the masters of their own destiny. There may some truth to that, but we do not have control over many of the storms that come our way.

We can try to eat the right foods but that won’t mean that we won’t get sick. We can exercise all the time but that won’t keep you from having physical problems. In fact, it sometimes brings them on quicker.

You can try any preventative methods you want to, rub on all the creams you want to in order to get rid of the signs of aging, and you can take all the vitamins on the market, but none of those will keep you from facing the storms of life that will surely come your way.

Nothing in this world is certain except for uncertainty.

How long did you sail without knowing where you were going? Are you still going through life, day-by-day, and wondering why you are here and were you are going? Do you feel like you are just being tossed about by everything that comes along? Do you have an anchor that you can hold on to?

Most of the people I know are just drifting through life without a purpose and not knowing where they are going. They take each day, one at a time, and wonder what tomorrow will hold. They have no anchor, nothing to give them peace and nowhere to turn in the times of trouble.

I’m glad to know that I have found an anchor for my ship of life. There’s something that I can place all of my trust in, and rely upon, to keep me safe in the storms of life. That anchor is in Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages.

It was about 12 years into my journey on this ship that I found that anchor. That was the day that I took hold of the rope that anchors me in Christ. Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, came to me, called me by name, chose me, He picked me of all people, and said, “Here son, catch hold of this rope and anchor your soul in Me.” I want to tell you that I took hold of that anchor rope and since that day life has been a better journey.