Don and Wilma walked out on the sandbar, enjoying the breeze as they listened to the waves crashing on the shoreline behind them. They were visiting the coastline of Nova Scotia and did not know that they were walking into the mouth of danger. Between them and the shore, the tide quickly poured over a low spot on the sandbar.
Ivan spotted them and quickly ran up the steps from the beach to the top of the embankment. “Cecil, a couple of tourists are trapped on the sandbar, and they don’t know it!”
Cecil Milton knew how fast the tide ripped around the sand bar. “I’ll call Denis now. He might have a boat handy.”
Did you know that God sees the danger you are in even before you stop to consider it? He still loves you even as you get tangled in a web of sin and regret. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). God saw your need and sent a Saviour who can rescue you from sin.
Denis looked across the ocean with his binoculars. His eyes widened. “Let’s go . . . those people on the sandbar are trapped!”
His boat sat beside the shallow river. The tidal waters would come in in about an hour and then he could easily put his boat in and drive out to them. But he couldn’t wait that long! Denis and his friend pushed the boat, but it wouldn’t budge. Then Linda walked by. “Help us!” he called frantically. “We’ve got two people offshore drowning!”
The boat slowly scraped a track to the river, but there wasn’t enough water to drive it away. Suddenly Mike came along with his four-wheeler. “Help us, Mike!” Mike pulled on the anchor rope as the others pushed. Slowly, painfully they moved ahead. Another man happened to come by, and he also helped.
When Don and Wilma realized their danger, it was too late to save themselves. The water slowly rose to their knees, then higher till they began to tread water. “But, Wilma, I can’t swim!”
“Don, tread water now or you’ll die! Maybe somebody will come for us.” Soon they were battling the cold water and the strong ocean currents and praying for help.
Do you think you can save yourself in your danger? What can you offer to God for all your sins? If you started today to do the best you could do, would that save your soul? The Bible, God’s Word, states that all of these sincere attempts to save ourselves are useless: “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)). It is God Himself who sent His own beloved Son into the world to save us - to take the blame and punishment for our sins.
About then the fire department rescue squad arrived at Denis’s house. Through binoculars Rodger Hunter saw the couple quickly drifting away, and he saw Denis’s boat in the river straining to reach the deeper water. The boat finally moved on its own. It bounced off submerged rocks, but Denis paid no attention to the damaged boat. Two lives had been drifting away for twenty minutes, and there was no time to spare.
Rodger phoned Denis in the boat. “You’ve gone past them! They’ve drifted a good mile this way . . . I’ll direct you.”
Suddenly a thrill swept over the two men in the boat. “There’s a woman’s head bobbing in the waves! And there he is too . . . I hope we’re not too late.”
In a few long seconds they were beside the perishing couple. Wilma was almost gone. She could not help herself as they pulled her into the boat. But both were alive and saved!
Other people had arrived to help. Some brought blankets. One man had a four-wheeler and took the two victims up to the road. There the ambulance crew did their part. It seemed the whole town was there, interested in saving two people.
My friend, God is concerned about your danger, and others are also worried. Maybe a mother or friend has prayed for you. Perhaps a preacher has explained to you why you need to be saved. Those who care about you have tried to reach you with the gospel. Do you realize your danger? Friends can’t save you, but they are trying to point the way. Are you listening? “He that [hears] My word, and [believes] on Him that sent Me, [has] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
The next day Denis thought about all the people who “just happened” to come along. He said, “It was as if somebody wanted them to be saved.” And yes, somebody - the Saviour who loves you dearly - wants you to be saved. You’ve drifted in your sins far too long!
ML-03/27/2005