Isn’t one anchor enough?
Perhaps you have heard of the Halifax anchor, which was large enough to hold a strong battleship. It was made of the heaviest iron and weighed ½ ton, but that made it all the worse when trouble came. There was a great explosion on that ship on the morning of December 6, 1917, in the Halifax harbor, and the great iron anchor was thrown two miles through the air, chopping off trees like a lawn mower on grass. About 2000 men, women and children were killed in that explosion, with another 9000 injured, and the anchor did not save them.
There’s a Bible story about anchors in Acts 27. One was not enough. They had four, and they had good, experienced sailors onboard who knew how to use them. Did these four anchors save the sailors? Read on and see.
Paul the Apostle was a prisoner on that ship. Inspired by God, Luke wrote about Paul’s journey. You can read his story in the Book of Acts in the Bible.
The ship sailed on the Mediterranean Sea on its way to Rome, but they were tossed about by stormy weather. After two stormy weeks, they checked to see how deep the water was. They used a line that reached to the bottom of the sea, and each check showed that the water was a little shallower. That told them they must be coming closer to land, but nothing could be seen in the dark, stormy night.
So they threw out four anchors to hold the ship where it was and waited for daylight. Perhaps they were too scared to think about being hungry, but it had been two weeks since they had eaten anything. Paul was not scared, because God had given him a promise of safety all the way to land.
What good is a promise? It depends on who makes the promise. In this case it was God who promised, and nobody, nobody, nobody can break God’s promise!
In the early dawn, Paul suggested everybody on board eat some food, and he set a good example by thanking the Lord and eating. The others all followed and ate too. Then they threw the wheat into the sea to make the ship lighter.
When there was more daylight, even through the rain they could see a creek flowing out from land into the sea. Then they threw off the anchors into sea, and we never hear of those anchors again.
Don’t trust in useless anchors! They may be all right for this life, but they’ll never take you safely into eternity. Be sure you are trusting the promises of God—”Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:33For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; (1 Corinthians 15:3)). No useless anchors and no religion will ever take you to God’s city of holiness.
The sailors hoisted the mainsail and the wind drove them to shore where they ran aground. The front end of the ship stuck fast and the back end was being smashed by the violent waves. The ship was now a total wreck!
Kill the prisoners! cried the soldiers onboard. They might escape!
No! said the centurion who wanted to save Paul. Let those who can swim jump in first, and then let the others grab a broken piece of the ship and float to land.
Who was drowned? Nobody. God had promised Paul that there would be no loss of life, but only of the ship.
If you don’t know God’s promises for yourself, read your Bible and find out. You may lose all your things here, and certainly you will leave them all behind when you leave this world, but you cannot break God’s promise. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:3636For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36)).
Is there an anchor worth trusting? If you read Hebrews 6 you will find the only One. This “hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast ... even Jesus” (Hebrews 6:19-2019Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. (Hebrews 6:19‑20)). Since He rose from the dead and is already in heaven, and since He is my Saviour, He has promised that I will be there with Him someday too.
Is Jesus your Anchor? Will you be in heaven with Him too?
ML-01/11/2009