If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
— Romans 10:9
Do you want to be saved?
One day I took a small sailboat out on a large lake. I had not sailed on this lake before and I did not know its tricks and traps. My sailboat ride started very pleasantly. The sky was blue and the sun was bright and warm. I had sailed perhaps a mile from the park where I had launched the boat when I noticed the wind was picking up. It was blowing me away from the boat launch so I turned the boat around and started sailing into the wind.
Sailing into the wind is hard work and the waves were getting larger and larger. I was pushing the little boat very hard to get back to shore. Without warning, the wind caught my sails and dumped my boat over. Cushions floated away and the water was very cold. Although I was able to turn the boat upright again, I could not bail enough water fast enough to get her to float. The waves were too high and the water was too cold. I wanted to be saved.
I needed to be saved before I even left the shore that day. I just didn’t know it. I didn’t know what lay ahead. I didn’t know about the wind that came up every afternoon. I didn’t even realize that the water was cold enough to kill. In blissful ignorance, I set out to sail needing to be saved and not knowing it. When did I realize I needed to be saved? When it was too late for me to do anything about it myself.
The sailing story has a happy ending. A larger sailboat came by with a friendly crew who pulled me out of the water and towed my boat back to shore. They were extremely kind. Our lives can have a happy ending, too. All we need to do is believe in Jesus.
Application: Think about the end of life. Do you need to be saved? I do! Eternity apart from God is very lonely indeed.
Food for Thought: Why does God want us to be saved?
God pursues us til we surrender and then we think WE found the Lord. (He knew us in our mother’s womb.)
He is a God of mercy and grace. We would never see those attributes if he did not want to save us, the ones, and only ones mentioned in the Bible, that are made in His image and likeness.
I agree with the comments made. I would also look to the cross. He must have really wanted to save us to provide a way through His own suffering and sacrifice. He wants to be in a relationship with us, but to do that He must save us.
Great comments! Thank you all!!
Thank God that our God is a God of love and endless compassion.