DAILY DEVOTIONAL – April 2, 2020
“EPIRB“
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are our ever present help in trouble. By Your power and Spirit, Lord, keep us firm and steadfast in faith each day so that the joy of Your presence with us may be fully ours even when life is good and when trouble seems far away. Amen.
Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-21
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Devotional – “EPIRB”
On October 31st of 2017, Fox News ran an article that told of two women who were finally rescued by the Coast Guard after nearly 5 months of being lost at sea. I hardly believed it when I read the headline myself. 5 months at sea?! Well, as it turns out, that is not the strangest part of this story.
As the article describes:
The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that the two Hawaii women who were lost at sea for five months had an emergency beacon aboard their sailboat that was never activated.
U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Scott Carr told The Associated Press that their review of the incident and subsequent interviews with the survivors revealed that they had the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) aboard the ship, but never turned it on.
During the post-incident debriefing by the Coast Guard, the two women were asked why during this course of time did they not activate the EPIRB. The women had stated that they never felt like they were truly in distress.
Experts say some of the details of the women’s story do not add up. Philip Johnson, a retired rescue Coast Guard officer said that if the women used the emergency beacon, they would have been found. “If it was operational and it was turned on, a signal should have been received very, very quickly that this vessel was in distress…and failures are very rare.”
On top of all this, there were 6 other modes of emergency communication the women could have used, but according to their story all of them somehow went dead simultaneously and were unusable.
As Johnson, the retired Coast Guard officer said, “There’s something wrong there…I’ve never heard of all that stuff going out at the same time.”
There are many things that don’t add up about this story, not the least of which is how 6 different forms of communication somehow all failed at once, and right at the time they were needed. Have you ever had one of those seasons in life? When everything, I mean everything in your life seems to fail? When everything and everyone that has been so reliable and dependable up to this point all of a sudden fall to pieces right when you need them all most?
As odd as it is that this happened to these women, the truth is, their 5 months of suffering out in the middle of the ocean could have been prevented if they would have done the one thing they knew they should have done; turned on the emergency radio beacon. Why did they choose not to turn on the single most important safety devise on their ship? These women said it was because they did not feel like they were in any real distress or danger.
Aren’t those the most dangerous times in our lives? When there is no apparent danger? When things are falling apart in life we become hyper sensitive and over protective don’t we? But when things start going well and when the ship of our life is not being tossed about by the waves, we tend to neglect the things we know we should remain diligent in and that we should do. This had serious consequences for these two women at sea, however, the consequences can be far worse when it comes to our spiritual life and neglecting the basic practices and precautions of our faith that keep us afloat when life gets rough.
St Paul exhorts us in our text for today, “make the best use of your time because the days are evil.” Friends, the days are coming in our life when the waves are going to rise and the wind is going to toss us back and forth. How we spend our time, how we invest our time, now, is what will prevent us from being lost at sea. The Apostle Paul sheds light on how we can best invest our time now:
Verse 18, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” Here Paul warns us not to seek pleasure or peace of mind or satisfaction from anything in this world. We should not use anything as a means of escape or relief other than the Word of God, our prayers to God and our relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s just as easy to become intoxicated with work, friends, television or a hobby as it is to become intoxicated by alcohol and neglect our most important spiritual needs.
Verse 19, “Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” What else is Paul describing here except worship? Regular attendance in worship alongside fellow believers, a life lived in and through the Church of Christ on earth and a daily engagement with one another in and over the faith and hope in Christ that we share is how we ensure our emergency beacon radio is always on. The Lord works through His people, and when we are an active part of God’s church, others can sense when we are in distress and help us, provide for us and encourage us. We do the same for them.
Verse 20, “Give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” A life of thankfulness can only be lived when we are always cognizant and aware of the countless blessings God pours down upon us, even when we find ourselves in the middle of a storm. “Thank God always and for everything.” That means thank Him even for the difficult times and even for the storms, because it is in those times that He is drawing closer to us and calling us to draw ever closer to Him. Admittedly, this is hard to do isn’t it? To give thanks for the hard times? How does this become easier for us? Paul tells us, “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” When we serve our neighbor, especially when we serve those less fortunate than us and those who are in desperate need, we become distinctly aware of how blessed we are and praise and thankfulness to God arises within us.
Friends, each day we set sail into the torrential waters of this sinful and broken world. How foolish it is to go through even a single day neglecting to keep our lines of communication with God in good working order; daily time in the Word of God, daily prayer, daily fellowship with believers and daily serving our neighbor. Though we struggle against our sinful nature to stay diligent each day, and though we all fail and fall into the stormy seas as Peter did after only a few short steps walking on top of the waves, we have a faithful and loving Lord Jesus who is always with us and who will always pull us up and save us. Cling to Jesus my friends. He is faithful to see us through this life and into all eternity.
Thanks for joining me for another time in God’s Word, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
