The loading ramp of the super ferry was hoisted up, and with its engines rumbling, the boat pulled away from the dock. This ferryboat carried almost three hundred cars and many foot passengers. Seagulls followed the boat out into open waters. The birds watched as passengers walked on the upper deck, looking for someone to throw a crust of bread their way.
Partway across Puget Sound and miles from shore, the captain slowed the ferryboat to check the engines. About then a man and his hunting dog got out of their car to stretch their legs. The man reached into the car to grab the dog’s leash. He thought the dog would wait for him, but that didn’t happen. No sooner had the man taken his eyes off the dog to look for the leash, when the dog spotted the birds following the boat. With a bound the dog took off running towards the birds. He ran to the back of the ferryboat, ducked under the steel cable that acted as a fence, and jumped out into the water!
Unaware that anything was wrong, the captain cranked up the power in the engines and the boat picked up speed. A man standing at the back of the ship called out over the heavy engine noise, “DOG OVERBOARD!”
The dog’s owner heard the shout and looked to the spot where his dog was supposed to be waiting. “Oh no!” he cried as he realized it was his dog in the water.
The owner ran to the back of the ship, looked for the dog in the water and couldn’t see him. A man from the upper deck pointed to the dog in the distance.
Without hesitating, the dog’s owner found a life preserver ring on the wall, grabbed it and hurled it in the direction of the dog. Then with a running start, the owner leaped into the icy cold water. With strong strokes he swam out to the life ring and called out to his dog.
Bystanders on the ferry raced to tell the captain that a man and his dog were overboard. The captain instantly stopped the ferry and ordered the ship’s lifeboat with a small motor into the water. A couple of well-trained crewmen drove the small boat out to the man and hauled him into the boat, then found the dog and rescued it too.
The hunting dog would have drowned out there in the deep water if someone hadn’t come to its rescue. His master’s putting his own life at risk certainly displayed how much he loved his dog.
God certainly loves us too. God’s amazing love is shown by His plan to save perishing sinners. He sent His Son into our world of sin and strife. With no hesitation on His part, the Lord Jesus left the glories of heaven and came to this troubled earth to reveal His love to us. Knowing the terrible cost of coming to save us, He never paused to wonder if we were worth it.
Almost every step of Jesus’ life down here was resisted by sinful men who had no use for God or His beloved Son. For the goodness and love He showed to mankind, Jesus was rewarded with evil and hatred. He was taken by cruel hands and nailed to a cross.
The One who filled heaven with His glory came down all the way into the poverty of a shameful death on the cross so that you and I might have true riches. “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:99For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)).
This Man who lived a perfect life and never sinned had to be forsaken by God on the cross while He suffered for the sins His creatures had committed. “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)).
Now because of His death on the cross, you and I can be saved from our sins by trusting in Him. “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:1515That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)).
Later on the ferryboat, as he sat wrapped up in a blanket and sipping hot coffee, the dog’s owner thanked his rescuers and then asked if they would have stopped the ferryboat if they knew that just a pet was overboard. One of the crewmen answered, “Yes, even for a pet we would have stopped the boat to rescue it.”
And if you were to approach the throne of God and ask, “Did you send your Son to die even for me?” praise God, the answer for each one of us would be a resounding, “Yes!” So whether you are a child or a grown-up, you can believe and know for sure that Christ died for you. Christ’s death for us is what shows how amazing His love is.
What will you do with that One who loves you so much that He died for you? Will you take Him as your Saviour right now?
ML-12/26/2004