Friday, July 29, 2011

The Parable of the Seacoast

Friends,

A story to connect with Saving the Lost...Keeping the Saved...

A paraphrase of a story in Heaven Bound Living as originally told by Thomas Wedel goes like this -- On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a little life-saving station. The building was primitive, and there was just one boat, but the members of the life-saving station were committed and kept a constant watch over the sea. When a ship went down, they unselfishly went out day or night to save the lost. Because so many lives were saved by that station, it became famous. Consequently, many people wanted to be associated with the station to give their time, talent, and money to support its important work. New boats were bought, new crews were recruited, and a formal training session was offered. As the membership in the life-saving station grew, some of the members became unhappy that the building was so primitive and that the equipment was so outdated. They wanted a better place to welcome the survivors pulled from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged and newly decorated building.

As the years passed, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a place to meet regularly for fellowship, for committee meetings, and for special training sessions about their mission, but few went out to the people lost at sea. The struggling people were no longer welcomed in that new life-saving station. So another life-saving station was founded further down the coast. History continued to repeat itself. If you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of adequate meeting places with ample parking and plush carpeting. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people don’t survive.

Food for thought...

Blessings, Don

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