Of course we all know that this is a device designed to keep a person afloat and their head above water. How many times have we told our children that they are not to play with and should only be used to toss to someone in distress? But, haven’t you either as a kid or adult secretly wanted to also break the glass and use the float for fun just once?
Some say that drowning is the worst sort of death imaginable. That awareness of being unable to take a breath and feeling your chest explode from within, just as your arms and legs collapse in exhaustion. At a time like this who among us would not yearn for someone to throw them the life preserver?
Just think of the things we try to preserve today, rivers, books, vegetables, trees, photos, wild-life, money, or basically anything of value. Have you ever wondered what kind of things God values? What might He choose to preserve these days? I came up with these six things from the New America Standard and the New International Versions of the Bible:
1. His very Own Chosen People - Joshua 24:17 (New American Standard version,) tells us. “For the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.” Have you ever been tempted to think of yourself as a no-body? Not so if you’re a Christian. He preserves His people and Jesus even gave us His very own name!
2. Prisoners doomed to die, Psalms 79:11 says “Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; According to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are doomed to die.” He reaches for those who feel imprisoned and doomed.
3. Preachers of Righteousness:2 Peter 2:5 (The Lord,) “did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.” You may not see yourself as a “Preacher”, but even through your actions and choices a message is daily presented to the lost all around you.
4. “Those who Hate Evil” (according to Psalm 97:10) “You who love the LORD, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” Unfortunately we have been taught through many of our religious traditions that it is wrong to hate anything. If God hates evil should we not also hate it too and let Him safeguard our very soul?
5. Simple Ones; In Psalm 116:6 David tells us that “The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.” None of us like to be thought of as simple but an alternative word here could be uncomplicated. If King David could recognize the vital importance of living a life free of complications why would we purposefully choose to make problems for ourselves?
6. The Ones Seeking Justice. Proverbs 2:8 “Guarding the paths of justice, He preserves the way of His godly ones.” I’m reminded of Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, Oh Man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you. But to do justice, To love mercy, and the walk humbly with your God?” Do you do justice? If God guards the paths of Justice and commands us to DO Justice, will He not preserve our way when we do justice?
I trust that today you will re-examine the things in your life that you are trying to preserve. Try to make sure they line up with God’s list of priorities for you and I know you will feel His new life being released within you today.
