How far will God let us drift before saving us?
RUFFIN ON RELIGION
MIKE RUFFIN
"Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him."(Psalm 32:6)
Jesus often used parables in the Bible. The parables helped the people to compare a spiritual truth to something in their life.
Because we don't belong to the culture for which the parables were written, we often have trouble applying them in today's world. In other words, the importance of the spiritual truth is easily misunderstood — if not lost altogether.
Robbie told me a story a few years ago that took the form of a modern-day parable. It draws from an incident to which we all can relate. It also emphasizes a spiritual truth that Jesus taught through one of his parables.
We have friends who were vacationing along Florida's Gulf Coast. Their daughter and niece were playing on rafts in the water. The parents were relaxing on the beach and talking to others around them.
All of them were unaware that a major storm was brewing several hundred miles out in the Gulf. However, the undertow was already beginning to show the early symptoms that it was too close for comfort.
Because the children were on rafts, they hadn't noticed the undertow. They also didn't realize they drifted out beyond the breakers until their daughter lost her float. Her cousin told her to hold on to her float until help arrived. Unfortunately, no one seemed to notice that the girls needed help. Meanwhile, the undertow repeatedly overpowered their daughter. She could only come up just long enough for her to get her head back above the water and catch her breath.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a lifeguard appeared. However, he couldn't overcome the power of the undertow either. He told the girls that if they drifted out beyond the next row of breakers that there would be no coming back. He said they would have to be rescued by the Coast Guard.
However, the lifeguard managed to get the girls safely back to shore. They were all well, but they had a heightened appreciation for the spiritual truth that accompanied their experience.
Since this parable is told in the context of our own culture, most of us have no trouble understanding its connection to the burden of sin and the timing of salvation in the life of an unbeliever. Indeed, as Paul put it, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
What many of us fail to understand is what Paul meant when he said, "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." (II Corinthians 6:2)
Each of us knows an unbeliever who thinks he can decide when it is time to repent of his sins and open his heart of Jesus. While he will freely admit he sometimes feels God's pull, he doesn't think he needs God right now. "There's plenty of time left before I need to make that decision," he might tell you.
However, he may be dead wrong! God told the Prophet Isaiah, "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6-7)
The truth is God will not wait on us to come to him. That first knock on the door of our hearts may be our only opportunity to answer his call. His word constantly reminds us that it is God who decides who may come to him. It is also God who will decide when it is time to shut the door. That is why Jesus said, "Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'" (Luke 13:25)
Aren't you glad that when you were drowning in your gulf of sin, a lifeguard appeared to let you know that if you got out much farther, there would be no coming back? After all, "For God sent not his son to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17)
