A teenage girl at summer camp was torn between two sets of friends. Some of them were sunbathing on the dock, saying to her “stay with us.” But her other friends were in a rowboat saying “no, come with us.”

There she stood, one foot on the dock, the other foot on the edge of the boat, and the boat was moving. Trying to appease everyone, trying to not decide, she ended up falling into the water; and worse, her hair got wet.

But I think this is exactly what Jesus is addressing in the Gospels. He is warning us that there will be times when following him will require us to turn away from something else. There will be times in this life when we will be required to say “yes” to one thing, and therefore “no” to the other.

And of course, the action we most often take is the same one that girl did on the swimming dock. We try to go in both directions. We try to say “yes” to it all, and we end up falling in between the seams, and being miserable.

Thanks to Steven Molin for sharing.

My Commentary:

This little summer camp scene is more than just a story about a girl and a soggy hairdo — it’s a vivid picture of indecision and divided loyalties. With one foot on the dock and the other on the boat, she was literally split between two directions. Her desire to please both groups left her in the most unstable position possible.

Jesus often addressed this same human tendency in the Gospels. Following Him is not a halfway choice. It involves a clear “yes” to Him that inevitably means a “no” to other pulls on our time, attention, and allegiance. Just as the girl discovered, straddling two opposing paths eventually leads to a fall — and in life, the cost is often greater than wet hair.

Many of us try to keep a foot in both worlds: we want the security of the dock and the adventure of the boat, the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of the new, the ways of Christ and the ways of the world. But Jesus calls us to step fully into His way and to follow Him.

In the end, the Gospel challenge is simple but demanding: lift the other foot, take a stand, and choose the One who will never let you sink.

Have YOU found YOURSELF seeking both the security of the dock and the adventure of the boat, seeking both the ways of Christ and the ways of the world?

I’M IN A CHAPTER OF MY LIFE WHERE GOD IS MAKING ME STRONG BEFORE MAKING ME HAPPY!