The Ultimate Rescue - How to Survive When You Can't Save Yourself

One sunny day in Southern California, I began to body surf - catching waves just right so they would carry me in toward the beach. I swam further and further out into the Pacific, taking a risk in order to catch the best possible wave. To my shock, I quickly found that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t swim back to land. The undertow kept pulling me underwater. I was drowning and could do nothing to save myself!

Fortunately, a well-trained lifeguard swam out and brought me safely in to shore. If someone, a rescuer, had not come to save me from this hopeless situation, I could easily have died.

There are many dangers in our lives that we can’t seem to escape - consequences from bad decisions each of us makes. Maybe we need freedom from a habit we can’t seem to break, or from some selfish indulgence we won’t give up, or from inner pain from past wounds we refuse to forgive. Each of these riptides threatens to pull us under, to ruin us. Each of us is caught in an even greater riptide, a deadly spiritual enslavement from which none of us can break free without the help of the Rescuer coming to our aid.

All of us are in the overpowering grip of sin...sin that, if left unchecked, has horrific consequences. “After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This “death” is eternal separation from God, imprisonment in a place of judgement forever - the just result for our wicked choices.

We all choose to do things our way, not God’s, whether we lie (even a small “white” lie), have immoral or lustful thoughts, or simply say some unkind words against someone. Our sin makes us stand guilty before God. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). We are in bondage to sin, and no amount of self-effort, good works or even good religious deeds, can set us free and make us “right” before God. Jesus warned us, “Whoever commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).

We have all rebelled against God, and as a result we are headed for inescapable condemnations...unless we take the ONLY way out. That way is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became a man so He could die on the cross and take on Himself the punishment OUR sins deserved. He is willing and able to forgive us for all our wrong thoughts, words, and deeds. “In we have... through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The choice is yours - keep trying to break free from your evil ways (something you cannot do though your own effort), or let Jesus save you from the sentence you deserve and make you brand-new, from the inside out. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God” (John 1:12).

If you want a pardon for all your wrongdoings, and a NEW start, you can talk to Jesus right now: Lord Jesus, I believe You died on the cross for me and that You were penalized for my sins so I could be set free. I now turn away from evil and ask You to be my personal Savior and Lord. Please forgive me for my sins and make me a part of Your family forever. Thank you, Jesus!

Adapted from The Ultimate Rescue, by Ted Griffin. Copyright © 1997 by Good News Tracts. Used by permission. For more information, visit goodnewstracts.org.

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Have you made a decision to follow Jesus Christ?

NOW What? If You Are Wondering What to Do NEXT in Your Journey with Jesus... Click Here to Save Yourself Some Pain - and Learn How to Grow as a Christian (from my friend Ray Comfort - at Living Waters) Have a really blessed day!

~David