NO CASTAWAYS
by Ron Hutchcraft


It's hard to imagine a movie that gets rave reviews when there's about 45 minutes during which there is just one man on screen -- and he doesn't even talk that whole time! But Tom Hanks pulled it off in his blockbuster movie, "Cast Away". It's the story of the lone survivor of a Federal Express plane crash who ends up totally alone on an island -- well alone, that is, except for his one friend -- a volleyball he names Wilson. Tom Hanks' character is on that island, marooned and alone, for four years. He's the castaway.

You've probably never been marooned on a desert island. But you may know very well how it feels. In a world of bad relationships and superficial relationships and broken relationships, a lot of people know the feeling of being emotionally marooned . . . abandoned . . . maybe even discarded. Because of some of what you've been through, you may feel like you're the castaway.

But your days on that island may be almost over. In fact, it could be that all your failed or frustrating relationships have actually been preparing you to experience the central relationship you were made for. The one relationship that is so permanent, so secure that it even redefines your need for love -- and it sets you free for healthier relationships all around.

Anyone who has ever felt like an emotional castaway needs to hear the fabulous promise of Jesus Christ in our word for today from the Word of God. In John 14:18, Jesus says to all those who belong to Him, "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." This is the same Savior who says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). He's the One who promised in John 6:37, "The one that comes to me, I will certainly not cast out."

That's it -- unconditional love, unconditionally guaranteed by the One with more love to give than anyone in the world. And that's the kind of anchor love your heart is so ready for . . . a kind of dependable love you may have almost given up on . . . but a love that is guaranteed by the Man who loved you enough to die for you.

The Bible actually says that you and I were created by Jesus and for Jesus (Colossians 1:16). But maybe you've never given yourself to Jesus -- until now. It's all the hurt of the other relationships that has softened your heart and made you realize how much you need the One who died to pay for all the wrong things you've ever done. We're not talking about a Christian religion here -- no religion can love you, forgive you, be with you every moment of every day, or take you to heaven when you die. Only Jesus can do that.

So this is all about a relationship -- a relationship that begins when you respond to the awesome love of Jesus. It begins when you welcome Him into your life, counting on Him and Him alone to remove the wall between you and God. When you do that, the relationship you were created for has begun. And from now on, that promise of Jesus is all about you -- "The one that comes to Me I will certainly not cast out."