God's Lifeline

Read Romans 10:8-17 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-30

Moses said to the Israelites, "I have set before you life and death. ... Now choose life, so that you and your children may live."
-Deuteronomy 30:19 (NIV)

A documentary on television showed a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescuing two people who had been lost at sea for three torturous days and nights. Their commercial fishing boat had capsized in a violent storm that killed the rest of the crew. As the two survivors were pulled to safety, I could not only see but also feel their gratefulness and jubilation. They were saved from the threat of death.

After watching this dramatic event, I began to think of how God seeks to rescue the lost. Rescue workers cast lifelines to victims in distress. In a spiritual sense, God does the same for each of us, offering us eternal life. Can you imagine anyone who would refuse to be rescued from death?

Every day millions of people remain lost, cast adrift or separated from relationship with our loving Savior, Christ Jesus. As believers, as those who have been rescued, we have the privilege and responsibility to offer God's lifeline to those in danger of drowning in life's turbulent seas. For them it is a matter of life or death.

by Donald L. Maly (Texas, USA)