Mike's early days were spent in the Navy. On board ship he had been in many countries, and seen many strange sights. Now as an old man he was always pleased to assist the boys with their little ships or boats. Mike was a universal favorite with them, and many an hour did they spend in his cabin on the beach or sitting by his side on the rocks, listening to his tales.
"Did you ever cross the line, Mike?" One of the boys asked the question one day, as they sat idling on the beach.
"What line do you mean, chum? I've crossed so many in my day," said Mike, laughing.
"Why, the equator of course. There is no other line than that is there?" said Sam, wishing to show Mike his knowledge.
"Oh, but there is, chum. There's many a line besides that," said the old sailor, shaking his head. I crossed the equator more than once. Still, I can't say I remember very much about it, except that I was serving Satan at the time, and finding him a very hard master. I remember much better the day when I 'crossed another line, and I like to speak about that rather than the days of my wild oats.”
"What line is that, Mike?" asked the boy, sobered by Mike's serious face.
"The boundary line of Satan's kingdom," was the answer. "You see I had been a servant of Satan up to that time, doing his work and running his errands. But a shipmate of mine, a real Christian, got hold of me one night out in mid-ocean. Standing with him on the deck of our vessel, just the two of us, he told me of God's love and of Christ's power to save.
"I knew I was a vile sinner, lost and ruined, and I thought I had crossed the line beyond the reach of God's love and grace. But that night as we stood for hours under the tropical skies, I re-crossed the line of Satan's kingdom. I became a believer and a follower of the Lord Jesus, and trust Him to keep me on the right side of that line forever.”
Reader, do you know what it is to cross that line? It's a miserable existence to be on Satan's side of it. Mike had been on both sides; and as an old man, he could testify that by far the best side is Christ's side.
Mike's story with its unusual account of "crossing the line" so held Sam's attention that he forgot all about sailing his boat. He had never before heard of crossing such a line, the boundary line of Satan's kingdom. Yet, friend, that line is a very real one. As the old sailor said, one side is Satan's and the other is Christ's. On Christ's side there is life, salvation and heaven; on Satan's side there is death, damnation and hell.
There is no straddling that line, no halfway kingdom. You stand this day on one side or the other; you belong to Christ or to Satan.
Which is it, reader? Do not thrust the question from you, for assuredly one day, sooner or later, you will have to face it squarely. To be Christ's now, is to be Christ's forever; and to side with Satan in time, is to be a sharer of his doom in eternity.