The Difference Between Life and Death

Monday, March 20, 2006

The cable news people called it a miracle. So did the man who's alive today because of what happened. He'd gone out for an afternoon on his boat off the coast of California. He didn't expect that sudden high wind that hit his vessel and threw him catapulting over the rail and into the water. The boat continued moving with its propellers nearly cutting him to pieces. He escaped that danger with relatively minor cuts, but now he was alone and adrift in those cold waters, knowing that hypothermia would soon set in. Unable to sustain himself in the water, he prayed for divine help. At that moment, he saw a balloon floating on the water nearby. He grabbed the balloon. He put it under his shirt to keep him buoyant. There's one problem with balloons - they tend to lose air. And slowly, the balloon that was holding him up did just that. With hypothermia beginning to set in, he was at the end of his ability to stay alive and stay afloat. He closed his eyes, knowing that death must be near. He said, "All I could do was to begin to say the 23rd Psalm out loud, 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.' When I got to the part that says, 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me,' I opened my eyes. And there, floating in front of me, was a board. I grabbed it. I hung on tight. Then, in front of me, I saw a large buoy. I paddled to that buoy, only to be challenged by a huge sea lion." That's when he was sure he was going to die. But that was when, five hours after he'd gone overboard, his brother arrived in a search boat and saved his life.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Difference Between Life and Death."

A man facing a seemingly deadly situation, a series of amazing interventions, and the arrival of the rescuer who was his only hope - just in the nick of time. For someone listening today, that's not just a story from the news. That's your story. Or it's about to be. It's my story and the story of millions of others whose only hope was a rescue - a spiritual rescue.

Our word for today from the Word of God is really just eight powerful words from Zephaniah 3:17. It simply says, "The Lord your God is mighty to save." He really is. He has both the love and the power to do whatever it takes to save you from the emptiness and turbulence of a life away from God and from the awful agony of an eternity without Him. God is in the saving business.

Like that man overboard, the Bible says that we're all in a deadly situation from which we cannot save ourselves, and often we don't even know the danger we're in. The Bible says we are "without hope and without God in this world" ( Ephesians 2:12) - away from the Source of our life because we've hijacked our life from Him. It's called sin: a lifetime of willful choices that have ignored and disobeyed God's laws. And the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death" ( Romans 6:23). We're overboard, we're drifting, we're dying.

Along the way, the One who is "mighty to save" has sent you some "boards" and "balloons" that would keep you afloat until you could find the real Rescuer. You are alive today by His grace and His intervention in ways you don't even know. He's wanted you to have a chance to grab the hand of His Son, His rescuer from heaven. Because one day you will "walk through the valley of the shadow of death," and your only hope is those four words, "You are with me." If Jesus isn't with you when you enter eternity, you are without hope. If He is with you, you're in heaven forever.

Today, the nail-pierced hand of heaven's Rescuer is reaching for you. The nail prints are there because He had to die so you could live; taking the penalty for your sin on that awful cross. And this day, the choice you make as Jesus reaches to rescue you, may very well define your eternity. How do you grab His hand? You tell Him, "Jesus, I've done it my way long enough. You died for my sin, and I'm giving myself to You because You are my hope." In that moment, you will be saved, you will be rescued, and you will be safe.

If you want that, I encourage you to visit our website right away and give a look or a listen to my brief explanation of how to be sure you belong to Jesus Christ. Just go to yoursforlife.net. Or I'll send you Yours For Life in printed form if you'll just call 877-741-1200. None of us knows how much longer we have to choose life. Let today be the day you grab the hand of that One who is mighty to save.