Daily Devotional for March 20, 2017
Safe Anchor
Lucas thought about what Pastor Smith was saying as he listened to the sermon in church. “You need to be anchored in Jesus to withstand the storms of life,” said the pastor. I know just what he means, thought Lucas. That’s like when Dad and I went on that deep-sea fishing trip. His thoughts went to the things that had happened that day.
Lucas remembered the dark clouds that had gathered in the sky as the charter boat they were on sailed for home. “This storm is coming up really fast,” the captain told the passengers. “We could try to make it to port, but it would be safer to anchor near the coastline and ride out the storm.”
The passengers huddled in the ship’s cabin as torrents of rain poured down and lightning flashed. At last the captain let down the anchor a little way out from the rocky shore. But the wind and monstrous waves still tossed the boat about as though it were a toy. “I’m scared, Dad,” Lucas said. “What if we crash into those big rocks?”
Dad put his arm around Lucas. “Don’t worry” he said. “I talked with several crew members, and they told me they’ve anchored here safely many times. We have a good captain. We can trust him. He knows what he’s doing.”
Dad had been right. It wasn’t very long before the storm let up and they were back on shore.
Lucas’s attention turned back to what Pastor Smith was saying. “There’s something even worse than a shipwreck at sea,” he continued. “It’s the shipwreck of a person’s soul. You could compare your soul to a ship and your life on earth to the sea. Perhaps you’ve experienced difficulties, like sickness, the death of a loved one, loss of a job, or broken relationships. Such things make life pretty stormy, so you need an anchor. The only anchor that will hold you safe through the storms of life is Jesus Christ. Only in Him do we have eternal life and the hope that the wrong things of this world will one day be made right. Put your faith in Him.”
Lucas thought of recent problems he’d had at school with tests and bullies and friends. Life can be stormy, he thought, even for kids like me. – Mary Rose Pearson
How about you?
Have you put your faith in Jesus—is He your anchor? Or are you sailing through life on your own, getting tossed around by the difficult things that happen to you? You need Jesus as your anchor throughout your life—and especially when your life on earth ends. Without Him, your soul will be shipwrecked. Put your faith in Him. (See the ABCs of Salvation in the column to the right.)
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