Some
years ago, my wife and I were “at sea” on an ocean cruise, when the Directors
organized what was facetiously but erroneously called a “tiny talent” time. An
entertainment afternoon was set aside and any of the passengers with suitable
skills were invited to perform. The musicians, singers, comedians and even
magicians were outstanding.
But then
a lady, probably in her fifties, took the stage and started to quote poetry. We
weren’t paying close attention to the words at first, but then she shifted to a
more rousing, martial type of beat and people started standing up to keep time
with her actions.
She
encouraged this as she moved to her last poem, with the audience still at one
with her. I recognized the poem, I knew where the words led, and I sat my wife
and myself down again. The crowd marched on straight to the end: “I thank
whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul…I am the master of my fate, I am
the captain of my soul!”[1]
How
perverse! Did those people realize what they had said? Were there any
Christians who had been dragged in as well? Did they catch the verse that says,
“It matters not … how charged with punishments the scroll”? Joy and I were
seated almost at the front so I hope the lady saw our protest.
How
desperately wrong can a person be? In a sense, our choices do decide our fate,
but “unconquerable soul”? No way! She discounted the possibility of any true God,
and she ignored everything Jesus has done for us. But there is
punishment coming, and it does matter. The God Who made us will
eventually require obedience and every soul will be conquered. The wise person
foresees this and gets things fixed up with God before it’s to late. Two Bible
verses answer the poem: “Submit yourselves, then, to God…Come near to God, and
he will come near to you.”[2]
How?
“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”[3]
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