A gale was raging along the coast. While the storm was at its height, a ship, the Rising Sun, struck on Longrear Rock, a reef extending a mile from one side of the bay. She sank, leaving only her topmost masts above the foaming waters.
The shore lifeboats were away to the rescue of another wrecked crew. The only means of saving the men clinging to the swaying masts was the rocket apparatus. Before it could be adjusted one mast fell. Just as the rocket bearing the lifeline went whizzing through the air, the other mast toppled over.
Sadly, the rocket men began to draw in their line, when suddenly they felt that something was attached to it. In a few minutes they hauled onto the beach the apparently lifeless body of a young sailor. Trained hands worked quickly, and in a short time he regained consciousness.
Wildly he stared around at the crowd. He looked up into the weather-beaten face of the old fisherman nearest him and asked, “Where am I?”
“You are here, my lad.”
“Where’s the cap’n?”
“Drowned, my lad.”
“The mate then?”
“He’s drowned, too.”
“The crew?”
“All lost, lad; you are the only one saved.”
The shock overwhelmed him for a few minutes, but suddenly he raised both his hands and cried out, “My mother’s been praying for me! My mother’s been praying for me!”
Then he turned his face to the wet sand and wept for his lost mates.
He knew his mother well; he knew she would be praying for him and counted on God answering her prayers for his safety. We can hope that he went on to trust God for his eternal safety! The most loving mother could not pray her son into heaven; he must make that choice himself.
It is a blessing to have a praying mother, but not everyone can remember a mother who prayed. In fact, there are many who cannot even remember a mother! Does that mean that their chances of heaven are any less?
Absolutely not! The door is just as open to the orphaned, the neglected, the abused. All are equally welcome to enter the Father’s house.
It is true that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” but it is just as true that He offers “the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:2222Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Romans 3:22)).
It is still “whosoever will.”
“Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”