January 9, 2007

• The Divine Rescue

       I’d like to try a slightly different style for this entry. I’m going to tell you a story that came to me today. I highly recommend that you consider the meaning of the story for yourself before reading past the dotted line.
       Once, three men went diving in the ocean. It’s not really important why they were there, but it is important that they didn’t realize that a storm was coming. When the storm hit, they became disoriented and couldn’t get back to their boat. Their boat driver, realizing the peril of his customers, radioed the coast guard for help.
       In flew a helicopter to search for the lost divers, and to rescue them if possible. After finally locating the tired, freezing, and nearly drowning divers, the helicopter dropped a rope. The first diver grapped on and tried to pull himself up. He made it halfway up the rope before finding that he lacked the strength to reach the helicopter. He fell back into the waves and drowned.
       The second man, seeing that the rescue attempt would clearly not work, decided to swim to shore himself, and disregard the coast guard team. He saw no value in contined attempts at rescue by helicopter; he saw that it would never work. His body washed up on the beach a few days later.
       The third and last diver, in despair, tried only to keep afloat. The pilot of the helicopter knew that the man couldn’t climb the rope himself, so he sent a crew member down the rope with a harness. The rescuer helped the diver into the harness, and both were raised into the helicopter — into safety.
  
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       The meaning of this story is really not terribly complicated. The diving trip represents life, and the storm represents sin. The three divers represent three responses to life and sin. The first man tried to climb his way to safety without the help of the rescuer, and he died. The second man gave up on rescue, and he died as well. The third man realized he had no hope apart from his rescuer, and he waited and believed that this rescuer would find a way to save him from his impending doom.
       How like our own lives! When the storms of sin come our way, how do we react? Do we rely on our own strength to resist temptation, and to do the “right thing” and please God? Or do we simply give up on God when it gets rough, and try to forge our own path through life?
       The way we ought to react is as the third man. He didn’t trust himself, knowing he was too weak to save himself; he didn’t give up on his rescuer, because he saw that it was his only hope, and that without hope he might as well drown; instead, he waited for his savior to come and pull him out of the water, from which he was helpless to lift himself.
       Do you react that way? When you’re in a storm, do you wait on your Savior? Do you trust Him and depend on Him as your only hope? Indeed, Christ is our only hope for salvation. Praise God!

   

   

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