The Raven Princess, a large, chartered fishing boat, was rolling with the waves. Twenty people were standing along the rails fishing. They would lower and lift their fishing rods to give a lifelike action to the lure on the end of their lines. From overhead the cries of sea gulls were heard. A half mile to the east the passengers on the boat could see the large waves breaking on the rocky shore of Vancouver Island.
Every few minutes somebody would call out, "Fish on!" Then after a short battle between fisherman and fish, one of the crew members would use a long-handled net to scoop the shining coho or king salmon on board, its scales glittering in the sunlight.
"Hey, what's that black thing moving in the water?" Jason asked his dad, pointing to it.
"It looks like the fin of an orca whale, Jason."
"An orca whale!" a neighboring fisherman exclaimed. "Hey, everybody, come over here and see the orca!"
In just a few moments, all the passengers on the Raven Princess had reeled in their lines and stood on one side of the boat, watching.
The orca was rapidly swimming toward the Raven Princess. Its black dorsal fin protruded about six feet out of the water. The orca arched out of the water as if it were trying to spot something, and its white spots could be seen.
"Look, it's chasing a seal!" someone pointed out. All eyes strained to see the much smaller seal darting through the water. The orca was chasing its dinner, and the seal was fleeing for its life. The chase was bringing them close to the boat.
"Dad," Justin asked, "how will that seal escape?"
"I have a hunch that the seal is swimming to our boat for protection. Maybe it knows that the orca will not want to get too close to it."
"I hope the seal makes it," Jason replied.
Jason's father was right. The seal, swimming just out of reach of the orca, came up to the side of the boat and circled it nervously. From its panting for breath, the passengers could tell it was tired from its race with the orca. The orca stopped its chase about thirty feet away from the boat, apparently not wanting to come any closer.
It seemed to be waiting for its prey. Occasionally it would blow spray through its blowhole.
The people on deck could see the seal's whiskers and dark eyes as it swam around the boat. One of the crew members pointed out that the seal was little more than a pup and hadn't grown to full size yet.
"Isn't there anything we can do to help the seal get away?" Jason asked the skipper of the boat.
"Well, we're out here to fish, not to save seals from orcas. They have to eat too."
Several people at once disagreed with the skipper and wanted to do what they could to save the seal.
"Okay, since most of you feel so strongly, we will do what we can," the skipper said. Then he picked up his microphone and announced, "I'd like everyone to move to the front of the boat. We are going to catch the seal in a net and swing it onto the deck of the boat. Then we'll drive it back to shore."
Most of the people applauded this message and were pleased.
In a few moments one of the crew members lowered a fishing net into the water.
Then, just as if the seal understood that this was its only escape from the orca and death, it swam right into the net. It took two crew members to lift the seal onto the deck. The seal was tired and didn't try to move much once it was on board.
The skipper turned the Raven Princess toward shore. The orca followed the boat all the way to the harbor before turning around and heading back to sea. They safely released the seal in the harbor. The people on board the Raven Princess had quite the story to tell their friends about the seal that was snatched from the jaws of death. If it had not been for the boat and the people on board, the seal would have ended up as dinner for the orca.
That is something like sinners and the Lord Jesus. The sinner's constant enemy is Satan, but the Lord Jesus provided a place of safety that a sinner can escape to.
He made the place of safety by dying on Calvary's cross, taking the punishment for sin and breaking the power of Satan. Now any boy or girl can run into His loving arms and be safe forever.
If the Lord Jesus had not come to earth and died on the cross, there would have been no place for sinners to flee. Any who choose not to flee to the Lord Jesus will have to pay the awful price for his or her own sins. And that terrible price will be paid in the place of never-ending separation from God called hell. Fleeing to the boat was the only hope of escape for the seal, and coming to the Lord Jesus and letting Him wash away your sins is your only escape.
The Lord Jesus said, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). Won't you come to the only Savior of sinners today?