Hello, thank you so much for joining me today for Give Him 15.

And the title of our post today is Burn the Ships.

In 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez set sail for Mexico with 11 ships and between 6 and 700 men.

His goal was to conquer the Aztecs and establish a Spanish settlement.

The Aztecs were a very cruel people and performed thousands of human sacrifices to their gods every year.

They also captured and possessed many slaves.

Their population upon Cortez's arrival was approximately 5 million.

Mathematically, the odds were stacked against Cortez and his men by a ratio of 7,541 to 1.

Two previous expeditions had failed, yet he succeeded and conquered much of the South American continent.

What Cortez did at the beginning of this endeavor is the stuff of legends.

Some say the actions were a result of his men, his men becoming so intimidated by the odds and hardships that they decided to give up and go home. Others say Cortez

didn't even wait for that to occur before taking this drastic measure.

Either way, Cortez left no doubt that they were staying.

Burn the ships, he commanded his officers.

Cortez removed the option, turning the mission into an all-or-nothing proposition.

In the 1990s, Stephen Curtis Chapman released a song about this action of Cortez,

comparing it to the Christian faith.

Our entire family loved this song. I'll provide a link

for you to be able to listen to it at the end of today's post. Here's the first verse,

of chorus. In the spring of 1519, a Spanish fleet set sail.

Cortez told his sailors, this mission must not fail.

On the eastern shore of Mexico, they landed with great dreams.

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