ALL night long a gale had been blowing. Most of the inhabitants of the little village on the rocky coast of Scotland had been up all night, watching a vessel on the rocks; but, having no lifeboat, to their great sorrow they were unable to help, so rough was the sea.
With the morning light the wind had dropped, and several boats put off to see if by any chance some one might be found clinging to the wreck; but they soon discovered that all on board had perished; no sign of any living thing could be seen, and the ship itself was fast breaking up.
In one of the boats were two men, and after examining the wreck, they rowed round the rocky cliffs, lest perchance some one might have reached them in the storm. As they were about to give up the search, one of the men noticed something white on the cliff just at high-water mark. Approaching the spot carefully, he jumped on a rock near by, and after a very difficult climb he reached it.
Greatly to his surprise he saw it was a little wooden raft with a carefully packed bundle tied on; and in the bundle, which was soaked with sea water, was a baby, alive and asleep! He shouted to his mate in the boat, telling him what he had found, and then climbed down with the 'bundle with great difficulty. His friend brought the boat as near as he dare to the rock—the sea was still very rough—and the man on the rock threw him the bundle, which he safely caught. But the act of throwing caused the fisherman to slip, and he fell off the rock into deep water; and though his friend waited a long time, he never rose to the surface. The saving of the child had cost him his life.
With a sad heart the young man in the boat rowed back to the shore, and was soon surrounded by a crowd, as he showed the baby and told the story of the life saved and the life lost. The baby was taken home and soon recovered, and, after a few days seemed no worse for its strange experience. A careful examination of the clothes was made, and an envelope containing a number of banknotes was found, but no trace of a name, except that, in the corner of each garment, worked in silk, were the initials, A. L. S.
As the little girl grew up she was never tired of hearing the story of the way in which she had been rescued from the deep, and wanted to hear again and again about the man who had laid down his life in order that she might be saved.
Now I think those initials, "A. L. S." are very interesting and suggestive. They stand for three things. The first is:
A Lost Sheep,
and surely you and I, and all of us, come under that heading. Isa. 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) describes us exactly, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." By nature we are all lost sheep, and lost sinners, and could do no more to save ourselves than could the baby on the rock. Now what does a lost sheep and also a lost sinner need? That brings us to the second "A. L. S.," and the answer is:
A Loving Savior.
That was what the lost child wanted, and had the fisherman not thought it worth while to make that dangerous climb, she would never have been saved. Is it not wonderful that the Lord Jesus thought it worth while to come down from heaven, and take those seven downward steps that we read of in Philippians 2:5-85Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5‑8) in order that you and I might be saved? Have you ever accepted Him as your Savior? Have you ever thanked Him for laying down His life for you? Why not do so now?
If you have done so, and you belong to Him, the third "A. L. S." is for you. The only answer that you can truly give to His great love is that your life should henceforth be
A Living Sacrifice,