Crew members heard a loud “KABOOM!” from an explosion in the engine room of their tanker ship out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Fire ripped through the engine compartment, and the small crew on the ship battled the flames with fire-retardant foam. At last the fire was put out, but the damage was done. A sailor had been killed, and the engine was ruined. The tanker was drifting far out at sea wherever the wind and waves carried it.
Captain Chung Po radioed out the distress signal, “MAYDAY! MAYDAY!” A large cruise ship bound for Hawaii came to their assistance. They arrived a couple of hours later and agreed to take all the men off the tanker. However, they refused to take the ship’s pet, a small black-and-white terrier dog named Forgea. The cruise ship had strict regulations about bringing pets onboard.
The terrier had lived on the tanker for three years. The captain had brought the dog onboard when she was only a two-week-old puppy. He had fed the tiny dog with an eyedropper until she was old enough to eat solid food. The captain thought the dog would be good for the morale of the crew during their long voyages. The entire crew loved and enjoyed playing with Forgea. Now it bothered all of them to leave the dog behind. But if they didn’t leave the damaged ship, their lives would be in danger. They didn’t seem to have any choice.
Captain Chung Po quickly fixed a large bowl of food for the dog, said good-bye to the pet, and climbed aboard the cruise ship with his other men. He didn’t think he would ever see the dog again. Without power to operate the pumps, he suspected the tanker, with the dog onboard, would sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Forgea was forsaken and alone on a doomed ship somewhere out in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean. If Forgea would ever be saved, someone would have to come to her assistance. There was no way she could jump into the ocean and swim many hundreds of miles to safety.
Have you ever felt forsaken and alone? If so, you are not the only one. Sin has entered the human race, and things aren’t the way God meant them to be. In our sinfulness and selfishness, we have made the choice to leave God out of our lives.
But God loves us too much to leave us in such misery without doing something about it. He made a way so that you and I could be delivered from our sins—He sent His Son Jesus into the world. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:1414But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)).
If any of us were to be saved from our sins, we would need help from above. The Lord Jesus came from heaven to be that help. He knew that, even if they wanted to, sinners in their own strength could never make it back to God. The distance between themselves and a holy God was just too much. In His great love for us, He willingly came and went to the cross where He gave His life for sinners: “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). This is good news indeed! There is no better news for sinners, for through faith in Jesus’ name sinners may receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life! He promises to hold securely in His hands all who trust Him for salvation, so that they will never perish. He is the Saviour we all so desperately need! Will you trust him?
There was good news for the forsaken little dog too. She was alone on the drifting ship for thirty-eight days. Then men from a fishing boat discovered the abandoned ship, went aboard and rescued Forgea. Many people admired the pluck and courage of the little dog that enabled her to survive that long. She was brought to Hawaii where, after a long stay at an animal hospital, a loving family adopted her.
Forgea, who had been forsaken and left to die, was given a home where she was loved and cared for. Will you come to Jesus who promises, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:55Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5))? If you will accept Him as your Saviour, you will find much happiness in God’s love for time and eternity, and you will belong to Him forever.
ML-12/09/2007