On the northeast coast of Scotland lies a small fishing village. One day all the able-bodied men of the village went out in their boats to fish, leaving only three old men with the women and children. The men had sailed in the evening in good weather. During the night a gale sprang up. Seeing their danger, they looked for shelter in a harbor about eighteen miles from their homes.
When morning came, the sea was wild and rough. Throughout the day the wind became more fierce, driving the foam and spray over the houses near the beach and into the fields beyond.
When the storm seemed at its worst and the angry waves were thundering over the beach, a small ship was seen sweeping around the headland into the little bay. The villagers down on the shore, anxiously looking out for the return of the fishing boats, at once shouted a warning. But their cry was lost in the roar of wind and wave, and the vessel hurried to disaster, crashing onto a reef of rocks in the center of the bay. With the ship grounded and the seas breaking furiously over her, the six-man crew scrambled higher on the wreckage to avoid being washed overboard.
It appeared certain that they would die in that angry sea.
Four miles away at another fishing village a lifeboat was stationed, but the path to it lay partly along the shore that was being swept by the heavy waves. Everyone seemed afraid to take the news of the wreck to the men who manned the lifeboat.
Finally a girl named Dorothy asked one of the old fishermen, “Will she hold together till noon? If I thought she could, I would go for the lifeboat.”
“No, no,” he replied, “stay where you are. You could never get across the stream.”
“I’ll try it” was her only response as she started off. Looking again at the wreck and thinking of the men who would die, she was determined to do all she could to bring help for them.
Walking quickly across the wild moor for about a mile, she made her way down to the shore where she would be less exposed to the fury of the wind. She had to splash through the surf and foam at nearly every step, and time after time great waves almost swept her off her feet as they rushed up the shore. But on she went, determined to give the warning, whatever the cost might be to her.
There was another One who never turned aside from His mission of mercy. The Lord Jesus set His face like a flint in order to fulfill His purpose. And what was that purpose? It was to open a way of salvation for YOU and for ME.
We were sinners exposed to death and what follows death — JUDGMENT — for “the wages of sin is death,” and “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” We were all shipwrecked on the reef of sin. We lived in our sins, and soon we were likely to be dying in our sins.
Thank God we do not need to die in our sins. Christ came to die to save us, and nothing turned Him aside from this.
Finally Dorothy came to the stream the old fisherman had warned her about, the one he said she would not be able to cross. The stream, now swollen into a rushing torrent, had swept away the only bridge across it. Dorothy’s heart sank as she looked at it, but the thought of the shipwrecked men renewed her courage and she plunged waist-deep into the raging waters.
Nearly halfway, she sank into a deep hole. As the waters covered her, she thought for an instant that this was the end, but then, making a great effort, she struggled forward, got a foothold again and finally reached the far shore.
Wet and cold, she hurried on across the moor. She must go all the way to get help for the shipwrecked seamen. Dorothy in love was risking her life for them. Christ had to give His life for us. The Son of Man must be lifted up. Christ must suffer.
At last the village was in sight, and Dorothy, exhausted but determined, pushed on to the house of the lifeboat captain. Scarcely able to speak, she could only whisper, “The ship — on the rocks — north — ” Then she fell unconscious.
The captain, having called to his wife to care for the girl, quickly gathered his crew together. Rapidly the boat was launched and urged on its way to the wreck. The seamen were still clinging to the wreckage, and soon a line was thrown on board and fastened. They were all saved and brought in the lifeboat to the shore.
Dorothy, having had some food and dry clothes supplied to her by the captain’s wife, returned home. She was delighted to find the sailors were all safe and sound in the homes of the kindly fishermen.
Those saved seamen loved to tell the story of Dorothy and how she had taken that dangerous journey to save them.
Those of us who have learned to know Christ Jesus as Saviour love to tell over and over again the story of the Saviour’s journey for us, from the glory of God to Calvary’s cross. Thank God, He’s on the throne of glory now, and He’s coming again to call His own to be with Himself forever.