As in the days of Noah, just before the great flood, “the earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:1111The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Genesis 6:11)), so today men are trusting in weapons and leaving God out.
Let us suppose a ship is foundering at sea, exceedingly rotten and leaky, and filling fast. From the shore a lifeboat is launched and pulls alongside the doomed vessel. The captain of the lifeboat calls to every person on board to leave the old ship immediately.
But the people on board refuse. One says, “Our ship is not so bad; she only needs a little repair and paint.”
Another says, “Away with both you and your lifeboat! We have a carpenter of our own, and we can repair this ship ourselves.”
Most go on with their games and their drinking, while some, working with emergency tools, are determined to keep the old ship afloat. Just a few see their danger and take advantage of the only way to escape.
The ship, left to itself, fills and sinks. Now, tell me, if every refuser on board goes down, who is to blame? The lifeboat was sent to them, but they refused to come aboard!
Christ Jesus is the lifeboat. The Father sent His Son to deliver us from this evil, perishing world. God so loved this poor, ruined, sinking world that He gave His beloved Son, that whosoever believes in Him might not perish.
In 1912, the largest and safest vessel that had ever been built, the “unsinkable Titanic,” struck an iceberg and sank. “The staggering fact,” an editor commented, “is not that the ship went down, but that she still went on after fifteen hours of radio warnings, her engines at full speed, her band playing, her passengers dancing, and, apparently, nobody caring that there was ice ahead.”
Do not ignore the danger ahead. Accept the salvation Christ offers today.