Get Off the Island

Get Off the Island

I recently heard a story about a Japanese man in World War II who was stationed on an island off the coast of Japan. After being stationed there, the Allied forces invaded and he was one of 3 officers not to surrender to American troops. Instead, he hid in the jungle gathering intel on the Allies and foraging for food. Several months later, World War II came to an end, but unfortunately, the Japanese man did not know this. His family and friends attempted to contact him by calling his name over a bull horn and dropping fliers explain the end of the war over the island. He saw all these signs and decided they were traps sent by the enemy. For 30 years, he stayed on the island until finally, someone found his elderly superior officer, who came and found him and told him the war was over.

This is a tragic story and when I heard it I thought, “Wow what a terrible waste of your life!” This story is a parallel to the way non-Christians, and even some of us, view Christianity and God. The Bible says that the Lord has won the battle against sin and death! We no longer have to worry because God is in control. But some of us refuse to believe this truth. We continue to live in on our own little island trying to sustain ourselves and make a life out of rocks and sticks, when Jesus is calling us to something greater: a life of redemption! He is constantly calling and calling and sending hints and trying to speak into our lives.

Ephesians 5:8 says “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” Once we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, we have to live as new people who have seen the end of a war and know that all things are going to be new! Don’t live your life on an island, trying to ignore the great things God has done. Step off the island and into the light, and live as God  intended you to be, a new creation.