“I Don’t Think About the End!”
“It’s all luck, and the end I don’t think about; I’m going to take my chance” was the statement of Captain Webb, the champion swimmer who became world famous by his successful swim across the English Channel.
Visiting the United States and viewing the Niagara Rapids, he declared his intention to swim across them. Some people thought this heroic, but those who knew the Rapids called him a fool.
One bright July day, in the presence of a crowd of cheering spectators, Webb leaped into the rushing waters. For a while he swam with the whirling torrent, but the eddying waters were more than a match for the strongest swimmer, and he was swept like a straw into the violent current and carried to his death. Men searched for miles for the body, and after four days it was found a mile and a half below the little town of Lewiston, New York.
How foolish! To risk his life for the sake of applause-applause which he did not live to enjoy! “It’s all luck” was the Captain’s word, but is it? He risked his life and lost it! He had said, “The END I don’t think about,” but was this wise?
Like the Captain, you may be “taking a chance,” but remember the words of Scripture: “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)). There is no answer, for what advantage could everything under the sun offer when man is called into eternity by—DEATH? “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”
What advantage could fame, riches, honor and glory be, when the spirit leaves the body to spend eternity—WHERE? You may say, “Death ends all,” but the unerring Word of God declares:
Captain Webb said, “The end I don’t think about.” Could you be as foolish?
Stop and THINK now, and get these eternal issues settled now while God waits to welcome the returning soul who will say, “I have sinned.” Why should you die in your sins? Why should you be eternally lost? Why not turn to Him NOW, and hear Him say, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.”