It was early December, 1941, and the steamship Mauna Loa was heading for Honolulu with a cargo of Christmas trees and holiday turkeys. As the ship approached her destination, a radio warning sounded and advised the ship to turn around and go back to Oregon. War had just begun; Pearl Harbor had been bombed, and Honolulu was too dangerous a destination for any unarmed civilian ship.
Reluctantly, the Mauna Loa sailed back to Oregon. As it came time to locate the Columbia River entrance to the city of Astoria with its friendly docks, the sailors anxiously looked for familiar lights along the shore. As they calculated when they should have arrived, they kept watching and wondering why they did not see the expected lights. And then — CRUNCH! The ship had run aground just where they expected to enter the wide mouth of the river. The sailors knew that war had started, but no one had warned them that there was a BLACKOUT ordered and all lights along the shore were to be darkened at night even so far from Pearl Harbor.
The entire cargo and ship was lost. Thankfully, the crew was safely rescued. This reminds us of the results of moral darkness in which men and women are found in God’s sight, in the darkness which can only lead to destruction. God has revealed His heart of love for lost sinners and has provided light from heaven in the Word of God. But we live in ever-deepening moral darkness.
One cannot glance at a newspaper, turn on a TV, or even just listen to the language unthinkingly used by children at play, without realizing that the light of morality has grown very, very dark. Is there no light anywhere? Must we stumble in darkness, seeking the straight way, the clear, clean path that leads from darkness today?
No, not at all! The Lord Jesus said it so plainly: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:1212Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)). What a promise! While walking through this sad world, we can have the light of life, and beyond that, Jesus Himself will go with us every step of the way. His sure promise is, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:55Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)).