In modern times, in an instant, ships can find their location while far out at sea with the push of a computer key, using GPS, or the Global Positioning System. But in the early 1700s, navigation — the science of knowing your exact location on the open seas and then knowing the direction you need to travel to reach your destination — was much more difficult. Because of shortcomings in the ability to navigate accurately, many ships, lives and cargos were lost at sea.
Navigators in those days could find the latitude of their positions. Latitude measures how far north or south you are on the globe and can be figured out by comparing the angle of the sun with the horizon. But navigators were at a loss on how to determine their longitude, or how far east or west they were. This difficulty was due to the spinning of the earth on its axis. Every hour the earth spins 15 degrees, or 1/24 of a complete revolution. Because of the spinning of the earth, navigators needed to know the exact time of day before they could calculate the longitude of their position.
If mariners had a timepiece that could keep accurate time at sea, their problems with longitude would be solved, but no such timepiece existed. The large pendulum clocks of the era were accurate on land but useless at sea, where the rolling of the ships and high humidity (moisture content of the air) made them inaccurate.
The British government realized that solving this problem would increase trade and commerce, so they offered a reward of 20,000 pounds to the person who could develop an accurate timepiece for sea. This was an immense sum of money in those days.
A few notable scientists, such as Isaac Newton, thought such a timepiece could not be built. However, notwithstanding his opinion, many people got to work in an effort to win the prize money. Among them was John Harrison, a young carpenter who had a fascination for clocks, and by the age of 20 had already built a number of wooden clocks. He set to work analyzing the problems timepieces faced at sea. And one by one, over the course of a lifetime, he figured out a way to overcome each difficulty. Finally, through perseverance and ingenuity, he developed a watch which would work at sea. In a trial, the watch only lost 38 seconds of time on an 81-day, transatlantic voyage. At the age of 80 years, John Harrison won the prize the government offered and was rewarded for his labors.
The development of this timepiece made it possible for mariners to figure out their exact locations, with both longitude and latitude. This was a giant leap forward in the progress of navigation. In fact, the famous explorer James Cook was one of the first mariners to use one of John Harrison’s timepieces. On a South Pacific voyage of exploration, he used the watch to find the exact locations of many new lands and islands he discovered.
Since the timepiece vastly improved navigation, it doubtless saved an untold number of lives and ships that otherwise might have been lost at sea.
Do you know that life, in many ways, is like a long voyage across an expanse of ocean? It is important in this voyage to know your exact location and also how to reach your desired destination. It is important, because it is very possible to end up shipwrecked when it comes to your immortal soul. You see, at the end of our lives, each one of us will find ourselves in one of two places. We will either find ourselves in a real heaven, where all is bright and joyful, or end up lost in a hell full of darkness and suffering.
If you want to reach heaven (and who doesn’t?), you need to know where you stand with God right now. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners in the sight of God: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). It also says that we have all strayed off course and done things that are displeasing to God: “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)).
Knowing that you are in the place of a sinner, lost and having gone astray, is important. Until you come to this realization, you will never see the great need you have of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your present condition might resemble a ship that is fit and trim and ready for an ocean voyage, or you could be like a ship that has been battered about by winds and waves until it seems barely afloat. However, if you are not sailing in the right direction to reach your destination, how will you ever get there? It is only by coming to Christ by faith that any of us will ever reach heaven.
About two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem. On the night of His birth, the angel of the Lord appeared in the night sky to shepherds in nearby hills. He told the shepherds, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-1110And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10‑11)).
The infant whose birth was announced that night grew up into manhood, and then at about the age of 30, He began walking over the countryside of Israel, preaching the kingdom of God. Wonderful miracles accompanied His preaching wherever He went. The lame walked, the blind were given their sight, and He even restored dead people to life. The miracles were confirmation from heaven that all that this Man said was true.
After three and a half years of preaching the gospel, He was betrayed by one of His followers, given a false trial and sentenced to death. At any time He might have called out to God the Father to send angels to deliver Him, but He let Himself be nailed to the cross. He did this because He knew He had to die and shed His blood so that any sinner might have a way to be saved. After He died, He was buried in a tomb. But death couldn’t keep the Lord Jesus in that tomb, and He rose from the grave. He lives forever now in the power of an endless life.
Although they had wandered far from Him and the terrible stain of sin darkened their hearts, God loved all men, and by the sacrifice of His Son, He won for them the opportunity of reaching heaven. The glad tidings of great joy to all people had come true. The truth of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus means that sinners deserving death might find everlasting life through Him.
Now all can know Christ as the Saviour of sinners. Through faith in Christ, souls who were once headed to a lost eternity can now reach heaven.
Once a navigator figured out his position, the next step was to determine the direction he needed to travel to reach his destination. If you have realized that you are a sinner and then placed your faith in the Lord Jesus as Saviour, the next step is to start living like someone who is on their way to heaven.
In your journey through life, you should throw overboard things like bitterness, hatred, theft, deceit, and meanness and let them sink to the depths of the sea. Instead, fill your life full of mercy, compassion, kindness, faith, love, honesty and good works. God gives the power to do this.
Wherever God may lead you in this wide world, you should always be living out the “life of Christ” that is inside every believer in Christ. The journey through life may be hard sailing at times, but God in His grace will be there to help you in every part of the journey.
Knowing where you are and where you’re going are critically important. Find out more in the next story, Where Am I Going?