And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. (Acts 27:41-44).
Today's Morsel: It's amazing to me how certain objects can stay afloat on water. A piece of iron will sink, but if it is put together and made into a boat, it will float. Boards, life preservers, and even people can float.
After Paul and the 275 other people that were with him on this ship to Rome encountered a tempestuous storm, they all hope that they would be saved come morning was lost. Can you image battling a storm for 14 days of treacherous winds, waves, rain, blackness of night and billows? Not being able to see where you are, where you are going, what lies before you, and if anyone is hurt or missing? Sometimes we find ourselves in these storm when we are disobedient to God's Word. We hear it, but we fail to heed it. Paul had given these men warning that there would be loss to the ship, but they believed the captain more than Paul. Oftentimes, preachers words falls on deaf ears until the storm hits. But when the ship ran aground and broke into pieces, the people used the boards and broken pieces as life preserver to make it safely to shore. The church is the old ship of Zion, it's the hope for the lost and the dying, it's a soul saving station, it's the tower of salvation. It's the church triumphant and it's built by the hand of God. Therefore, if the ship breaks into piece, get a piece of it and hold on. It's a life preserver. If all you know is, "For God so loved the world," hold on to that. If all you know is, "Jesus saves," hold on to that. If all you know is, "Repent and be baptized," hold on to that. If all you know is, " I can do all things." hold on to that. If all you know is "God is my light and my salvation," hold on to that. If all you know is but a small portion of the Word of God, hold on to it, because Jesus said that Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away(Matthew 24:25). If you hold to the word of God, you'll make it to shore safely. For Jesus is theWord and the Word is a life preserver.
Sing: You're going to make it, God already said that I would. He walks beside me, and heaven, is in my view, oooh, you're gonna make it through.
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