The sparkling blue water of the Bermuda bay lay before me. I was in Bermuda with other young Christians for a week of sharing the gospel, and we had the afternoon off to swim. The water was warm and relaxing.
Suddenly, my friend’s head popped up in the waves. “Hey, Scott,” Steve called, “what are you doing over there?”
“Just snorkeling around,”
I answered.
“You have to come check out what I just found by these rocks ... an underwater cave!”
I loved the water and I loved snorkeling, but an underwater cave didn’t sound too safe to me.
“Are you sure you can make it out?”
“Oh yeah. I’ve gone through twice now. Come on, check it out!”
Steve was pretty sure that it was safe, so I started to consider it. He was a bigger guy than I was, so I knew that if he fit through all the passageways, I would too. But I had one more question.
“How long does the swim take if you go straight through it?” I asked.
“I don’t know; let me check
for you.”
Steve waded down the beach and disappeared underwater. I stood in the sun and water and studied where he had disappeared. Checking out the cave did sound like fun. I had always wanted to explore some new place. As a runner, I could hold my breath for over three minutes, so I knew that it would take a pretty long underwater swim to make me say no.
Steve’s head broke the surface, and with a grin he called to me, “Two minutes and seventeen seconds to get down there and through it.”
Knowing that I had almost a minute of extra time if something unexpected happened, I swam over to join Steve. He pointed out the spot where we would go underwater and where we would come out on the other side. He said that he would lead, and all I would have to do was follow him through.
We dove ten feet down to enter the silence and dim light of the cave under the sea. For the first few turns, all I did was follow Steve’s flippers through the rocky maze. But then ...
It wasn’t a very narrow passage that caused the problem; what caused it was my brushing too close to the wall so that my shorts got caught on a rock. Knowing that I couldn’t tell Steve to slow down, I reached back as quickly as I could and unsnagged myself. But I wasn’t fast enough. When I looked up, Steve was gone!
I tried to tell myself, Okay, this can’t be that bad ... the way out is probably just around that corner ... after all, Steve did this alone.
The passage was too tight to turn around to go back the way I came in, so I swam into the next passage and turned in the direction that I thought I should go. It was a wrong turn.
Back on the beach, I hadn’t thought about the disaster that could happen with one wrong turn in that cave, but I was about to discover the frightening outcome of my wrong turn. The turn I took brought me into a large chamber of the cave with light filtering down through an opening at the top. That must be the way out, up there, I thought.
I swam toward the surface, eager to get to fresh air and be done with this little adventure. But the opening that was letting light in was not big enough for me to exit! However, hoping I could squeeze through it, I put my head and arms through — and got stuck!
I was so close to safety ... yet so far away. I knew I was now in serious trouble. I couldn’t hold my breath much longer. I thrashed around, trying to get free, trying not to panic, and began to pray in earnest. The coral that I was stuck in slashed my rib cage and shoulders, and the pain was making my situation worse. All I could do was pray: Lord, I know that I’m saved from my sins. I know that if I die, I will be in heaven with Thee. But, Lord, I don’t want to die right now. Please do with me whatever is best.
That’s the last thing I remember before everything went black. Next thing I knew I was at the surface of the water next to Steve. He excitedly turned to me.
“How did you like it?”
“Steve,” I said, “I got stuck in there! How did I get out?”
Steve was puzzled. “Stuck? What happened? Hey man, you’re bleeding!”
“Yeah, I need these coral cuts taken care of. Let’s go in to shore.”
Steve hadn’t been aware that I had nearly died in that cave, but I knew full well what had happened. I had taken a wrong turn, called on the Lord, and the Lord had saved my life. Thank You, Lord, I prayed.
One wrong turn was all it took to put Scott in extreme danger. Did you know that one sin is all it takes to put each of us into extreme danger? That’s because if we do even one sin, we have sinned, and the Bible says, “The soul that [sins], it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:2020The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. (Ezekiel 18:20)). Even one sin will keep a person out of heaven. Trying to find your own way to heaven is just as dangerous as it was for Scott to try to find his own way out of that cave. He was saved by calling on the Lord that day, and you can be saved if you call on the name of the Lord Jesus. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13) that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” There is no other way! “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)). He can save us because He “His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)). He took the punishment for sins at the cross of Calvary. Have you called on Him so you can have His free salvation?
Messages of God’s Love 12/14/2025