A ship sailing on the Pacific Ocean suddenly struck a reef that had not been on the chart. So violent was the shock that it was evident that the ship would soon become a total loss, so the captain and crew wasted no time in abandoning ship. Taking to the lifeboats, they hoped soon to reach some island or to sight a ship which would take them aboard.
For fourteen days they scanned the horizon in vain. Neither land nor ship appeared, and they were desperate on the morning of the fifteenth day. What joy there was when they were approaching an unknown coral atoll, on the shore of which they could see the waves breaking with masses of white foam.
There were people there! They had already sighted the boats and were crowding to the beach, but the sailors were not sure whether they should rejoice or fear, exhausted as they were and almost dead from hunger. They had not strength to defend themselves if the natives were not friendly. Some were thought to be cannibals; it was known that some shipwrecked sailors had met a gruesome death in these islands.
While the shipwrecked men watched anxiously every movement of the people on shore, they saw one of the natives pushing out through the breakers. He was holding a book over his head and crying, “Missionary! Missionary!”
What a reassuring cry! Missionaries had been there, and through them the people had learned to know the holy Book. There was nothing to fear!
Joyfully but feebly the sailors responded to the native’s shouts, calling for help. At once there was a rush to meet them. Some pulled the boats through the surf, and others carried the men to shore and gave them abundance of food and every possible care with truly Christian affection.
And what about the Book which the islander had waved aloft as a token of peace? It was the Book of books, the Bible-the Book which God has given to men that they may know Him, and it meets the soul’s need of every human being in every land who reverently accepts its teachings. That Book had changed the cruel, savage natives into gentle and caring Christians. It told them of a Savior who loved them and died for them, and they had believed the good news.
Do you have this Book? Have you been changed by it? The Lord Jesus said,