“Everybody was happy and jolly. They were all excited to go fishing. The trip began so normally,” said Jeff Folknere, the owner of the Garibaldi Marina on Oregon’s Pacific Coast. He had sat in his office sipping coffee and watching as the thirty-two foot charter boat named Taki Too motored out of the harbor.
The Taki Too was a ruggedly built, no frills kind of boat, and Captain Davis had many years of experience. He knew where to find fish as well as any other charter boat captain on the coast. Most of the passengers sat on benches out in the open, as the cabin was too small to accommodate more than a few people at a time.
The boat sailed out of the harbor and into the wide expanse of Tillamook Bay. Two large rivers that flow down from the Cascade Mountains empty into the east side of Tillamook Bay. All this water finds its way to the ocean through the mouth of Tillamook Bay. This out-flowing water beats against the incoming waves and currents of the Pacific, producing currents and chaotic waves in the region right at the mouth of the bay.
Some of the passengers, when they saw the frothy, high waves kicked up by the wind and conflicting currents, decided to put on life jackets. Others looked past the turbulent water at the mouth of the harbor and saw the long, regular succession of ocean rollers on the blue Pacific and figured they would just sit tight until they were over the bar at the entrance of the bay and into calmer water.
As it crossed this area at the mouth of the bay, a large wave slammed against the Taki Too and in an instant flipped it over. It happened so fast that no one on board had time to react and jump clear. They were plunged into the frigid water beneath the overturned boat and had to fight a life-and-death struggle to get out from under it. Once they surfaced they had to battle the waves that seemed to batter them from every direction. A few brave people on shore who saw the disaster waded through the pounding surf and tried to swim out to help, but when it was all over only eight of the nineteen people on board made it to safety. Only the ones with life jackets on survived; the rest perished in the tumbling waters.
Can you look ahead to the time when you too will have to make a dangerous crossing? The crossing I am referring to is the passage from time to eternity; it is known as death. Each one of us will have to make it. Just like those passengers on the Taki Too who donned life jackets and made it to safety, only those who have God’s salvation through faith in Christ will make it to the calm and peace and joy of heaven. All others will be lost without any hope of being saved.
Why do you need to have faith in Christ? Because He is the only Savior for sinners this world will ever know; His death on the cross is the only sacrifice God can ever accept for sin. He was not only a very special man, the only perfect man the world has ever seen, but He was also the one and only Son of God. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
The many miracles He performed, such as walking on water, calming a raging storm with the command, “Peace, be still,” the miraculous feeding of thousands of people with a few loaves of bread, healing multitudes of sick folks, as well as countless other miracles, showed who Jesus was. And, finally, Jesus Christ was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:44And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4)).
No great religious leader ever healed a leper, never fed thousands by a miracle and never gave sight to a man who was born blind. The Lord Jesus Christ has done all these things, but most of all He is shown to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. His dead body was wrapped in linen and placed in a tomb. A large rock was rolled in front of the tomb to seal it. From Friday evening to Sunday morning His lifeless body lay enclosed in that tomb, but early Sunday morning He AROSE!
After His resurrection His followers saw Him on several occasions. They even ate a meal of fish and honeycomb with Him. He remained on the earth after His resurrection for forty days before He ascended into heaven. Others had been raised from the dead, such as Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter and the widow’s son. All these persons then lived out their lives and died. Only the Lord Jesus rose from the grave never to die again. He lives now in the power of endless life.
Before His crucifixion, He had made very plain the way to be saved. Here are some of the things He said: “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:1717For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)).
That is like putting on the life jacket, as those who survived the sinking of the Taki Too did. There will not be time to seek safety when the terrible wave of judgment overwhelms you.
Oh, won’t you prepare to make the crossing from time to eternity by placing your faith in the Son of God? In mercy and in love God now invites you to receive the gift of salvation. The moment you receive Jesus as Savior is the moment that your name will be written in the book of life. Don’t delay another second, but place your trust in Him before it is forever too late!