A Little Background
A sailor going through Fleet School is not ready for the high seas.
Not until sailors have slipped port, have navigated safely around many dangers and weathered the stormy, raging seas are they considered proven, hardened, and seaworthy.
Likewise, a ship that remains in dry dock cannot prove it's metal until its hull gets wet; it must face a storm to demonstrate genuine seaworthiness. The same also is true of our faith.
Spiritually, we all need to be properly fitted in Christ for voyage. When we hold fast to belief in Christ in spite of life's storms and crushing waves of defeat, that's when we demonstrate the genuineness of our faith.
The First Degree: Humility
Before anything else, we need to make a decision.
Christians call this "counting the cost" of becoming a Christian. Before we cross the Fleet Admiral's bridge and get the education we need to become seaworthy, we need to decide if we are willing to cross the bridge in the first place.
When you enter the military, you find yourself suddenly bereft of your personal rights. In like manner, as Christians, we are asked to die to ourselves, so that we may truly live.
None of us will be willing to cross the bridge until we have come to realize that we have need of a personal Savior.
But every journey of faith begins with that first step...
It is a humbling experience to find yourself in the presence of God, but we're not even close.
First, as a new recruit, you'll have to go through Kit Inspection. But that will be for next time.
