My Personal Lifeguard

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,[d] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:28-33; ESV)

I do not know many traditional hymns by memory, but there is one particular song that I tend to sing with vigor whenever I hear it.  The song is called “Love Lifted Me”.  This hymn was written and composed by James Rowe and Howard Everett Smith in 1912.  Both men died decades before I was born, so I obviously did not know them.  However, whenever I hear this song or read its lyrics, I get the eerie feeling that they somehow knew me. The hymn has three verses and a refrain; here’s the first verse:

I was sink­ing deep in sin, Far from the peace­ful shore,Very deep­ly stained with­in, Sinking to rise no more, But the Mas­ter of the sea, Heard my des­pair­ing cry, From the wa­ters lift­ed me, Now safe am I.

My friends, this was me before coming to Christ Jesus.  According to the world’s standards, I was considered a “good guy”.  A family man.  Educated.  I had a good job with a decent salary, and a house with a white picket fence – literally.  My family, friends, and co-workers respected me.  I said kind things to others, and every now and then I’d do something charitable for charity’s sake.  That doesn’t sound like someone who deserves to be cast into Hell, does it?   

Looking back, my life fit the perfect criteria as a “vessel of wrath prepared for destruction” (Romans 9:22).  How can I say such a thing?  Because I wasn’t giving God a second thought.  I believed I had it all together.  I didn’t consider myself a thief – I just fibbed on my taxes a tiny bit.  I wasn’t a murderer; I just hated one or two (maybe three) people.  I used a lot of foul language, but no more than the next guy.  Those charitable donations?  Tax write-offs. 

I could go on and on, but you get my point. Referring back to the first verse of “Love Lifted Me”, I was that person sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore.  The worst part is that I didn’t even know it! I believed the world had everything to offer.  It was the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life that were weighing me down like an anchor, and I didn’t recognize it until I had almost hit rock bottom.  But God - the Master of the sea – had different plans for me.  Little did I know that in my despairing cry, He was actually drawing me to Him. He was speaking to my heart.  It was only when I stopped struggling, when I stopped fighting, when I completely surrendered, that He was able to pull me up out of the depths of despair and save me from the lake of fire.  And He didn’t just pull me up and place me anywhere, He placed my feet on the Solid Rock, the Rock of my Salvation – Jesus Christ.  Only Jesus was strong enough to take on my sins; to take on the punishment that I deserved.  Jesus exchanged my sin for His righteousness, and now through God’s grace and the gift of faith in the blood of Christ, I’m bound for the shores of heaven. 

I know that some of you have similar testimonies.  I pray that everyone who reads this message has confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and their Savior.  I also pray that if you’re not a follower of Christ, that you make the decision to surrender to Him at this very moment. 

By the way, the refrain of the song says:

Love lift­ed me! Love lift­ed me! When no­thing else could help

Love lift­ed me! Love lift­ed me! Love lift­ed me! When no­thing else could help Love lift­ed me!

My friends, God is love, the very definition of the word.  Only His love can lift you out of the angry waves of sin and death.  Cry out to the Lord, repent your sins, and invite Christ into your heart.  Ask Him to save you.  He’ll do it.  He wants to do it!  Only He can calm the stormy seas of this life and set you on a course filled with God’s love, joy, and peace.

God bless.