SOME years ago, a ship carrying a rich cargo was overtaken by a sudden violent storm along the coast of France. In spite of all the efforts of the captain and crew to keep her out to sea, the force of the terrific winds and waves drove her toward the rocky coast. All day long the ship, beaten about by the storm, drew nearer to the great rocks along the shore. Then suddenly there was a violent shock. The ship had struck a rock, and now she was at the mercy of the cruel waves which began to pound her to pieces.
“Lower the boats,” cried the captain. But no sooner were the boats in the water than they were swept away by the violence of the storm.
“We have but one hope,” said the captain. “One of us will have to try and swim ashore with a rope and fasten it on shore. Perhaps we may all Vet safe to land this way.”
“But, Captain, it’s impossible,” said the mate, pointing to the angry surf breaking on the jagged rocks. “Whoever tries to run a risk like that will certainly be dashed to pieces.”
“Then,” said the captain, “we must all die together.”
At this moment there was a stir among the sailors who were silently waiting for orders. “What’s the matter there?” called out the captain.
“Captain,” replied a sailor, “Jacques, the cabin boy, is asking to swim ashore with a small rope around him and then draw the cable after him,” and he pushed Jacques into the midst of the circle. The boy stood, turning his cap around and around, without daring to utter a word.
Jacques was only twelve years old. His father had died, his mother was poor, and had a large family to support. Jacques loved her dearly and was looking forward to the prospect of carrying to her the wages he had earned on this voyage.
“Nonsense,” exclaimed the captain. “Such a child can’t go.”
But Jacques was not so easily discouraged. “Captain,” he said timidly, “fasten a small rope around my waist and I promise you that an hour from now the rope will be fastened on shore, or I will die in the attempt.”
“Does he know how to swim?” asked the captain.
“Yes,” replied one of the crew. “He swims like an eel.”
The captain hesitated, but the lives of all on board were at stake, and at last he yielded. Jacques hastened to prepare for the terrible undertaking, and then he turned to the captain. “Captain,” he said, “since I might be lost, would you please take charge of something for me?”
“Certainly,” replied the captain, who was already wishing he had not yielded to Jacques’ request.
“Here then, Captain,” said Jacques, holding out a few coins wrapped in a piece of cloth. “If you get safe to land and I am lost, will you give this to my mother, and tell her that I thought of her and that I love her dearly?”
“No fear of that, my boy. If you die for us and we escape, your mother will never want for anything.”
For a moment the captain thought, “We can’t let this little fellow sacrifice himself for us like this.” But it was too late. Jacques was already overboard, with a cord tied round his waist and in the midst of the angry sea.
At first nothing could be seen but the waves and white foam rising and falling. But soon the sailors caught sight of a small black speck rising on the waves. Anxiously they watched the cord unrolling and tried to guess by its movement the fate of the little fellow. Sometimes it moved rapidly, sometimes it slackened, and they feared the boy had been drowned or dashed against the rocks.
Their anxiety lasted almost an hour. Then all at once there was a violent pull on the cord, followed by a second pull, and then a third. It was Jacques’ signal telling them that he had reached the shore, and a joyful shout went up from the ship. The men hastened to fasten a strong cable to the rope. In the meantime, people who had gathered on the shore began to pull on the rope as fast as possible.
Clinging to the cable, one after another the shipwrecked sailors reached the shore all safe and sound. Shortly after, they saw their ship go down beneath the waves.
Jacques was ill for a long time from the terrible ordeal of braving the waves and rocks. But he did not mind, because in gratitude for his bravery, the ship owners arranged that his mother should receive a yearly grant of money sufficient to take care of all her needs.
Jacques had risked his life to save others, but when the Lord Jesus came from heaven, he came to give His life a ransom for many. He knew that He must die, for there was no other way whereby we might be saved from the penalty of our sins and from eternal banishment from God. By His death on the cross, and by His resurrection He has provided a way by which lost perishing sinners may now pass from death unto life. Countless thousands have trusted the safekeeping of their souls to Him, have left the doomed and shattered wreck of this world and have landed safely on the heavenly shore.
May God grant that you too, dear reader, may trust Christ as your Saviour, and be saved for time and eternity.
ML-02/20/1966