Phil Littleford took his son on an Alaskan fishing trip with two other men.* In a quest to find some running salmon, they flew their seaplane into a secluded bay. The fishing was everything they had dreamed. When they had finished for the day, their plane was on dry ground. The fluctuating tide had left their plane twenty-three feet from the water, so they cooked some of their fish for dinner and slept in the plane.
When they awoke.... the tide had come in and their plane was drifting in the water. They cranked the engine and took off. Unknown to them, one of the pontoons had been punctured and was filled with water. The extra weight caused the seaplane to crash within moments. Everyone survived, BUT they had no safety equipment on board. They used their waders as floating devices, but the frigid water was a deadly threat. The current was too strong for Dr. Littleford’s twelve-year-old son to swim against. The other two men fought their way against the tide and barely made it to shore.
The two survivors looked back from shore to see Dr. Littleford and his son, Mark, being swept out to sea, arm-in-arm. The Coast Guard reported that they probably lasted no more than an hour in the freezing waters. The hypothermia would chill the body functions and put them to sleep. Mark, with a smaller body mass, would fall asleep first and die in his father’s arms. Dr. Littleford could have made it to shore, BUT that would have meant abandoning his son. He chose to die with his boy!
You and I were lost in the sea of SIN! Too weak to fight against sin’s current, WE were without hope. Seeing our terrible plight, the Heavenly Father did NOT abandon us, but rather He sent His Son to our rescue. The Son of God reached out to us urging us to cling to Him for our salvation. In order to rescue us from our sins, the Son of God gave His life. He died - so that we might live!
Through His sacrificial death, the Son of God CONTINUES to reach out to ALL who are drowning in the sea of SIN. ONLY those who "GRASP" His offer of salvation are saved.
To be saved ... one must embrace the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts 16:31), repent of sin (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus (Romans 10:9-10), be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), AND continue to cling to the Savior in obedience to His will (Revelation 2:10).
The love of the Father is too GREAT to be comprehended, but too IMPORTANT to be refused!
Will YOU not reach up to Him through your trusting obedience for salvation?
God bless you.
[*as reported by Patrick Morely]
This item originally appeared in Living Water, January 3, 2003
