Who was Blue Peter and how came he to have such a strange name? Well, let me tell you the story as it was told to me.
A harbor, as you know, is a place of safety for ships, where, though the sea may be very rough outside, they may drop their anchor inside and feel perfectly safe.
One day a visitor came into the harbor although not invited or desired, in fact, it was a sea monster called a shark. It was seen to swim about in the harbor, seeking what food it could find.
Having come once into the harbor and found no danger there, it came again and again, so that after a while the sailors got used to seeing it from time to time, and though they tried several times to catch and kill it, all their efforts were in vain; it always seemed to escape them, so they began to look upon the shark as an old friend, and gave it the name of Blue Peter.
But though they might let the shark live, and give it a friendly name, they could not alter its nature, for it is ever an enemy to us all. It is something like Satan, our great enemy, whose nature can never be changed.
One day a young man went for a swim in the harbor, and while there, the people on the shore suddenly caught sight of Blue Peter coming towards him. Of course, they shouted as loud as they could, to warn him of his daer, and when he caught sight of the shark, he was so frightened that he could only swim slowly, and if help had not come from another, he must have been killed.
Just like you and me, we have no power against Satan, and if the Lord Jesus had not died for us to put away our sins, we should have been in his power forever.
But there was a colored man looking on named Sambo, who worked for the young man’s father, and seeing the danger of his young master, was eager to do what he could to save him. He jumped into the water at the risk of his own life, and seizing the young man round the waist with one arm, he struck out for the shore with the other.
O, how eagerly the people looked on from the shore, for they saw that the shark was swimming faster than Sambo could, and it had almost reached him when Sambo made one final effort which landed them close to the shore. But, alas, the shark was close behind them, and before Sambo could get away, it opened his huge jaws and caught him by the leg.
The people on the shore caught hold of Sambo and pulled with all their might. At last the shark dived away into the water, but carried with him Sambo’s leg. Sambo saved his master, but lost his leg, while the Lord Jesus gave up His life to save thousands of boys and girls, men and women, from eternal misery.
Samba was taken to the hospital, and in time his leg healed up, but he ever Afterward had to go about with a wooden leg.
One day when Sambo was able, he started out in a boat armed with some special weapons to try and find his old enemy. He rowed about for a long time, but at last he caught sight of Blue Peter. He had a large piece of bait, which he threw to the shark, and tempted it to come near his boat, and an hour or so later Sambo returned to the shore dragging the shark behind him quite dead.
Satan thought when Jesus was crified that he had got the victory, but Jesus rose from the grave triumphant over Satan, having secured salvation for you and for me. Let us, then, put our trust in Him as our Saviour, and praise and thank Him for all His love.
“Thou art worthy,... for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood.” Revelation 5:9.
ML 06/17/1945