TANG WAS a brave Newfoundland dog, a most valuable member of the crew of the Ethie, a Newfoundland fishing boat. The Ethie never sailed without Tang on board, and one day the dog proved more valuable than any of the crew.
Many a sailor’s life has been saved by the ship’s dog. These dogs are trained, on command, to leap into the ocean and swim for shore with the end of a rope in his mouth. In shipwreck this becomes a lifeline for the sailors to reach land.
The Newfoundland dog has natural love for the water. His waterproof coat, web feet, and great strength, suits him as no other animal to be the fisherman’s companion.
One day the Ethie was caught in a terrible winter storm which forced the ship closer and closer to the rocks until the Ethie struck.
Then the great crashing waves ban to break the ship apart like a toy. The crew fired rockets ashore to call for help, but the waves were so high the men on shore could not get a lifeboat out to the doomed Ethie.
One brave member of the crew volunteered to swim ashore pulling the end of the lifeline. But even as the crew looked on, the cruel waves dashed him against the rocks and he perished.
Fear filled the hearts of the crewmen now, for their ship was being torn apart under their very feet. They knew they were lost.
Suddenly the captain thought of Tang. Would he be able to take the lifeline to shore?
“To shore, Tang!” commanded the captain, and Tang leaped into the water, only to be spun over and over among the rocks by the savage waves. But Tang got his balance again, bounded clear of the deadly rocks and with the lifeline in his jaws, looking like a tiny speck amid the white caps, he swam for shore. As he reached the land, a rescue party gladly took the lifeline from his mouth. As a result, every man on board was saved.
How sad that one sailor was lost trying to swim for shore! If only he had relied on Tang, he would have been saved, like the rest.
Yet there is something sadder than that. Many, many people think they can get to heaven by their own strength, and save themselves from death and judgment. But God knows we are without strength, because we are sinners. That is why God gave His blessed Son, “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)). “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Rom. 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)).
The Lord Jesus crossed those deep, dark waters of death and judgment all alone — the billows of God’s wrath against sin rolled over His blessed head, so that He could say, “all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me.” Psa. 42:77Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. (Psalm 42:7). But in His resurrection, He rose the mighty victor over death and the grave, and now He is the lifeline that stretches from earth to heaven. All who trust Him as their Saviour pass from death unto life, and all will be landed safely on the heavenly shore.
If He is not your Saviour, dear reader, trust Him now. Or you will surely go down, like the Ethie, beath those raging waves of judgment.
ML-08/01/1976