Being Saved

There is a story of unknown origin to me, about four men who went fishing. In the story one of the men walks out on an old and decaying pier. As the man is making his way out to a good fishing position, the pier collapses. He begins thrashing about screaming that he cannot swim.

Two of the other three men on the bank also cannot swim and they frantically urge the one member of their group who can swim to save their drowning colleague. Seconds turn into minutes and still the man just stands there seemingly uncaring.

The other men became angry and could not understand why the one person who could save their friend just stood there watching. As the exhausted and drowning man was going down for the last time suddenly the man jumped in and pulled his friend to shore.

As the drowning man was recovering on the side of the river, the other men fussed at the rescuer and asked him "Why, why did you almost let our friend die?" He replied. "I knew that I had to wait until he knew that he could not save himself. He had to want to be saved before I could save him."

I went rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee some years ago and felt like the fellow in this story. I fell out of the raft, got my sandal caught in between some rocks and started taking on water. I was able to pull my foot out of my trapped sandal and continued to be carried down the river over several sets of rapids.

About the time I thought I was going to drown, I was washed close to another raft and was pulled aboard by the raft members. My stomach was full of water and it had begun to run over into my windpipe. What do these two stories tell us about being saved, our salvation?

The words of the lifesaver of the first story, "I knew that I had to wait until he knew that he could not save himself. He had to want to be saved before I could save him," probably best describes how God views us in our lives concerning our salvation or being saved.

In Matthew 19:25-26, Jesus explains: “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."In Ephesians 2:8-9, St. Paul goes further in saying, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

In going down the rapids of the Ocoee River, taking water into my body, I had faith that somehow I would be rescued by someone. It was my mistake that I came out of the raft, but it was another raft crew 100 yards down the river that was able to save me just before I completed my drowning on this life-threatening journey alone.

The lessons learned from these water-danger stories are instructive to our lives in this world. It is not that things will always come out favorable for us in the normal and the threatening times in our lives, but that faith in God passes all understanding and we are His no matter the outcome.

In a revelation from God’s Holy Spirit during a personal life threatening surgery, I came to understand our eternal relationship with God. I saw that no matter if I lived or died, I would be with Him always. In seeking Him in my life I’ve found a peace that denies any physical worldly harm that may come to me, as separating me from God. This is being saved and this is our salvation.