LOST IN A SNOWSTORM OR GOING DOWN IN QUICKSAND?

My nephew, lost with his brother-in-law while tobogganing, had no idea which way would lead them out of the white mountainous area and back to the car. His desperation almost led him to burn the toboggan for one last bit of heat before they died. But his buddy insisted the toboggan was the only way they would get out and sure enough they kept climbing hills and sliding down the other side until the vehicle came into view.

 When we went exploring near our home in Colorado picking asparagus and hunting arrowheads my brother often spoke of quicksand. I’d heard Daddy warn about it, too. Given Colorado doesn’t have much swampy land the risk wasn’t great, but we did have many ponds, drainage ditches, canals and the mighty Colorado River. I’ve seen the stories on television about people who fell into quicksand. The more a person struggled, the deeper down they went. Rescuers often threw a rope to a person being sucked under because if they got too close, they would sink, too. Sometimes they had to tie the other end of the rope to a horse in order to pull the person out.

David, the Psalmist, wrote of sinking into the mire, but he spoke of spiritual mire. “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mier, Where there is no understanding. Where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry, My eyes fail while I wait for my God.” He wrote of enemies who would like to destroy him and then he begins to confess: “O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me.... I am the song of the drunkards.” Finally he prayed, “O God, in the multitude of Your mercy…Deliver me out of the mire and let me not sink..let not the pit shut its mouth over me.”

 Often David mentions his enemies. Today Satan is our worst enemy and he likes to trap us in the soggy mire of life’s temptations and problems. Quicksand has been known to swallow up buildings or at least make them fall over. Jesus spoke of the foolish man who built his house on the sand. The home fell and great was the fall of it. But the wise man built his life on the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, and when the storms came, or the underground rivers that cause quicksand, the wind and rain didn’t affect that house at all.

 Today I thought about people the Lord has rescued from sin, but then they jump back into that life that can destroy them and perhaps those around them. Why would someone turn away from the vehicle ready to take him from the cold, severe snowstorm and certain death? My nephew certainly didn’t.

 Why would someone jump back into quick sand after being rescued? This weekend is Easter where we celebrate the Resurrection of the One who will rescue from sin and death anyone who wants to be saved. The Apostle Paul wrote about how it’s done: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

” Other places Jesus added “And come. Follow me.” Have you been saved and are you committed to following Jesus?