All of us were glued to the television, this past week, trying to get the latest news on the fate of those five men in the submersible Titan. The expedition started as a “tour” of the Titanic wreckage but ended in tragedy when the submersible imploded due to enormous water pressure. Titan was built with the capacity to withstand such pressure, but experts believe a small rupture caused an implosion that killed everyone aboard in just milliseconds.
Some safety experts have weighed in on what happened, and, to a man, they have said that some safety measures were ignored. Some of those measures were not considered important, but they may have been put off for the sake of convenience or to save money. The most prominent theory suggests that it may have been a small rupture in the outer hull. The owner of the submersible knew there were problems but did not think they were important.
We cannot go through life with that kind of thinking. We need some security, some assurance that things are going to be alright. We just can’t take chances that something “might be” good enough, alright, safe or whatever.
When it comes to our faith, we need to be sure about things. So many just guess in religious matters and go on hoping things will work out well. They are just like the men in the submersible. What a shame that so many do that with religion. And, just like those in the submersible, they may find out, too late, that they should have checked things out a little better.
One of the characteristics of the Bible writers is their sense of conviction and knowing the will of God. These people were not stubborn, dogmatic, or mean-spirited. Their writings are not “of any private interpretation” of scripture nor did their writings come “by the will of man.” (2 Pet. 1:20,21) They are the revelation of God’s will to us about how to conduct our lives in preparation for eternity. None of it is guesswork.
Luke wrote to Theophilus about “the things most surely believed among us.” (Lk. 1:1) He did this, as he says, “That thou mightiest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.” (Lk. 1:2) Do you know what Luke is saying? “Be sure! Don’t take chances! Check it out!” He wanted Theophilus to know these things so that he could conduct himself in faith and life as God would have him to do.
As the news story unfolded about the submersible, there was an interesting story about one of the passengers. He had some misgivings about the whole thing and was afraid something drastic might happen. Sadly, it turns out that he was right. Be sure…
Gary Knuckles is a retired preacher in Briensburg, KY