Joe Vinson, lying in the bottom of a small boat, was picked up by a passing steamer. When rescued, the lad was naked and delirious, chewing his clothing, part of which he must have eaten.
The boy and two of his friends had been fishing. A storm came up and the boat broke loose from its moorings. His companions swam ashore, but Joe, unable to swim, remained in the boat and drifted to sea.
For nearly a week the boat drifted. Exposed to wind and weather, the boy's sufferings were intense. When picked up he had drifted 530 miles from the mainland. He had only drifted; that was all. He did nothing, but just drifted with the tide. That drifting nearly cost him his life.
Friend, once we get loose from God's Word, we may drift anywhere.
Drifting away from hope's blessed shore,
Drifting away where wild breakers roar,
Drifting, and stranded, and wrecked evermore,
Far from the light of God;
Why will ye drift on billows of shame
Spurning His grace again and again?
Soon you'll be lost, in sin to remain,
Drifting away from God.