An old sailor once told the remarkably interesting story of how he was converted to Christ.
He had been the captain of a smuggling boat in his younger days. One night they had a heavy load of tobacco which they hoped to land and make a good profit, but at daybreak that morning they discovered a Coast Guard boat in the distance. The Coast Guard had spotted them and was crowding on all sail for the chase. Though the Coast Guard was a long way off, still there was no hope of the smugglers escaping, slowed down as they were by the heavy cargo. Prison, besides confiscation of boat and cargo, stared them in the face.
Then the captain struck upon an idea. “Mates,” he cried, “let them come. We’ll pitch the cargo overboard, and they’ll only find an empty ship.”
So, with fresh enthusiasm, they hastily rigged a sail at the stern of the ship to screen them from the sight of the Customs men. Then they formed a chain of men from the hold below up onto the deck, and began handing up the packages of tobacco and pitching them overboard. How they did work! All was quiet; nothing was heard but the splash of the tobacco dropping into the sea.
“Cheer up, fellows,” cried the captain, “we’ll soon be finished with it.” At this moment he sent the cabin boy up to see how far away the Coast Guard ship was. The boy came rushing back, pale as death. He just gasped out, “It won’t sink!” and fled below! In a flash they understood what he meant. Running to the stern of the ship, what a sight the captain saw. The sun was just rising behind them, and there in that long line of light were the packages of tobacco bobbing up and down, and the first package in the line reached right back to the oncoming Coast Guard boat.
Helplessly, the men stood and stared. The proof of their guilt was spread out for all to see. They were lost, and in their ears rang over and over those fatal words, “It won’t sink!”
The old sailor went on with his story. When they got out of prison his heart was still far from God and he went back to his evil ways and smuggling again. One evening, about three years later, he went out alone in a boat on the river. In spite of himself, his thoughts went back to his childhood days, and he remembered how he knelt at his mother’s knee to say his evening prayers. Again, he heard her tell her little boy of the One who came from heaven to bring life to the world, and at this he sighed deeply. The more he thought about his past, the more horrified he was. God had created him, yet had he lived and was still living as though there were neither God nor eternity.
That night alone in the boat, he got down on his knees and prayed that God would come to his help. He would be another man. He resolved not to touch another drop of liquor, to avoid all bad company. One good resolution after another he made, and his heart grew lighter, and he was happy in the thought that he had become a new man. As a finishing stroke, he decided to sell his ship and go home to his mother.
Just as he took up the oars suddenly the moon broke through the clouds and cast its beam like a band of silver across the water to where his boat was. He started, and shivered. What did it remind him of? The memory of that certain morning, when chased by the Coast Guard he had cast the cargo into the sea, and it came over him with overwhelming power. He saw again the ship’s boy’s frightened face and heard his cry, “It won’t sink!”
“How blind I am,” he thought. “Here I am trying to lighten the ship by casting the cargo overboard and there, behold, all my sins are floating behind me like an accusing line stretched up to the throne of God. ‘It will not sink!’ What a fool I am, to think that I can drown all my wickedness in the sea of eternal forgetfulness, without a thought of the holiness of God. If I were able from this moment on to do only what is good, it would not change the evil done in the past.” Tears of despair filled his eyes and he knew he was hopelessly lost.
In agony of mind, he could see neither relief nor safety, and remembered the teachings of his faithful mother. Hadn’t she told him about Jesus, the Saviour of sinners? Hadn’t He died on the cross for sinners? And if he should turn to Him now, wouldn’t His precious blood wash away even his many sins? Wasn’t there grace and mercy even for him?
All at once everything was clear before him. Yes, the Lord Jesus had died for him. He had born the punishment of all his sins. If he accepted that, they would all be cast into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:1919He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)). “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more,” Hebrews 10:1717And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17), was a passage that came to him. Such a joy filled his heart then! He felt the power of that love and of that precious blood that washes whiter than snow.
Light-hearted, entirely relieved of his burden, he turned his boat toward shore, and a new man, through faith in Christ, stepped out on the land. He had gone out a lost sinner, but came back redeemed by the Lord.
ML 09/08/1968