A SMALL ship was driven onto the rocky beach and stranded. The surf was rolling furiously and before long the great waves would pound the little craft to pieces. Eight poor sailors were crying for help, but no boat could be got off to their assistance.
Just then a man came strolling along the beach accompanied by his fine Newfoundland dog. Seeing the sailors’ distress, he put a short stick in the dog’s mouth and then directed his attention to the stranded ship. The intelligent and courageous fellow at once understood and springing into the sea he fought his way through the waves.
However, he could not get close enough to the ship to deliver what he had in his mouth. But the crew joyfully tied a rope to another piece of wood and threw it towards him. The dog saw the whole business; in an instant he dragged it through the surf and delivered it to his master. A line of communication was thus formed, and every man on board was rescued from a watery grave.
What a brave intelligent dog he was! He might have been decorated with a medal, but a good deed is its own reward; and his master’s praise abundantly compensated him.
Let us be on the watch for human wrecks too, and try to rescue others from the ruin to which sin exposes them. The Bible carries within it lifebelts and ropes for all who are drowning in life’s troubled sea. It points to a Saviour who is willing and able to save all who have faith to trust Him. The gospel is the lifeline by which thousands of souls, shipwrecked on the sea of life, going down to death and judgment, to perish in the waves of eternal damnation, have been landed safely on the shores of everlasting salvation.
Throw out the Life-Line to danger-fraught men,
Sinking in anguish where you’ve never been:
Winds of temptation and billows of woe
Will soon hurl them out where the dark waters flow.
Soon will the season of rescue be o’er,
Soon will they drift to eternity’s shore,
Haste then, my brother! no time for delay,
But throw out the Life-Line, and save them to-day.
ML-08/26/1973