I shall return!

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton, the Anglo-Irish explorer from the early 20th century, led an expedition to sail to Antarctica, and then walk to the South Pole. The expedition was going according to plan until the ice trapped their ship, the Endurance, and eventually crushed its hull. The expedition team set up camp on an unstable ice-floe, and then rowed lifeboats until they reached the comparative safety of Cape Wild, on the coast of Elephant Island.

However, they were still far from safe! They needed help, and they needed it quickly. Promising that he would return for the rest of the team, Shackleton announced that he would take one of the lifeboats and, with a crew of eight, and only a sextant to guide them, set off on the 800 mile voyage to the island of South Georgia, in the South Atlantic. Amazingly - some might even say, miraculously! - they succeeded and, having clambered over the island's ice-capped mountains, reached a whaling station, and the help they so desperately needed. A ship was despatched and, four-and-a-half months after having arrived at Cape Wild, the stranded crew of Endurance were rescued, with not one life having been lost. Their leader had kept his word.

That makes me think of a somewhat similar situation! As the Lord Jesus was preparing to leave His disciples, He promised to return. He sai: "If I go and prepare a place for you,I will come again, and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you will be also." (Jn.14:3). Then, after enduring the horrors of His passion and crucifixion - beside which, even the ordeal of Shackleton and his men pales into insignificance - He rose from the dead to provide eternal life for all who place their trust in Him, and in Him alone, as their Saviour. He lives with them, today, by God the Holy Spirit, Who indwells each one but, one day, He will return and gather them into His presence. Paul writes to the disciples of Jesus in Thessalonica: "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord." (I Thess.4:15-17).

I find myself wondering if those who had been left behind by Ernest Shackleton were constantly looking to see if their was any sign of their leader. I suspect that they were, and that they would have noticed some sign - perhaps the top of a mast - before he actually arrived to rescue them.

Many disciples of Jesus are certainly looking for His return - and we are living at a time when signs of that imminent return are all around us! He is even more true to His word than was Shackleton to his. The rapture of the genuine disciples of Jesus is certain - because He has said so. 

Are you looking? Are you listening for the sound of the shofar? If you are His, He is coming for you. If you have not yet come to Him, in faith, and received the salvation that is available by the grace of the Father, then I urge you to think carefully about such matters. The time is now short, and it is only those who are truly His who will rise to meet with Him in the air. Will you be one of them?!

The tongue.

One of the little shop-bought desserts that my wife and I enjoy, currently comes with an amusing, or interesting, piece of information printed on the underside of the foil lid. For example, a recent lid provided the information that (translated from the French!): "The hummingbird cannot walk, but it is the only bird that can fly backwards. However, it has never been seen to back away from a Danette."!!  Another one that caught my attention during the past week informed me that: "Antarctica is the only continent that does not have spiders. Sadly, it also doesn't have Danette". A final example (I hope that aficionadas of "Trivial Pursuits" are taking careful notes!) assured me that: "A tongue measures on average 9cm. That's long enough to reach the bottom of your Danette jar." You will already have worked out the tradename of the product involved!

It was that last piece of information that started the train of thought for this post. I suspect that, like me, you would cringe at the thought of having a mouth full of, not a pleasant-tasting Danette dessert, but stones! Yet there iare circumstances in which a stone in the mouth can be beneficial! I am assured (but have not confirmed) that a stone (preferably clean!) in the mouth can stimulate the production of saliva - helpful if one is thirsty but there is no water supply/source nearby. 

I have also read that the cranes that inhabit the Taurus mountains of southern Turkey have found this to be particularly beneficial. These large birds cackle a lot, especially when they are flying. All of the noise attracts eagles who swoop down and seize the cranes for their next meal. Experienced cranes apparently avoid this threat by picking up stones large enough to fill their mouths. This, in turn, stops them from cackling - and from becoming lunch for the eagles!

Of course, the Bible has a lot to say about the tongue and the mouth! James writes: "... the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so." (3:5-10). 

In the Book of Proverbs, king Solomon states that: "From the fruit of his mouth a good man eats good, … He who guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin." (13:2-3); and: "The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream. … … A fool’s lips bring strife, and his mouth invites a flogging. A fool’s mouth is his ruin,  and his lips are a snare to himself." (18: 4, 6-7).

How many of our troubles could be prevented if we would learn to control our tongues! How much of the heartache that we cause others could be avoided if we would only guard our speech! The problem is that a word spoken cannot be recalled - even if, so often, we may wish that we could do so!

Do you, as I do, sometimes have a problem with your tongue? May I suggest that we try this: Ask the Lord for His help; think before opening our mouths; speak no more than is necessary. Following such a formula can be as effective as a stone in the mouth!

And a little prayer-verse that I came across, composed by that prolific author "A.N.Onymous"!.

"Lord, help me watch the words I say
And keep them few and sweet.
For I don't know, from day to day,
Which ones I'll have to eat!"