How to Get to Heaven Without Drowning

Imagine you're drowning in the middle of a stormy ocean. The waves are getting stronger, you're exhausted, and you're beginning to realize that no matter how hard you try, you're never going to make it to shore.

Then a lifeboat appears. Jesus is leaning over the side, reaching toward you, offering to pull you aboard.

You reach for His hand, but you're so exhausted that you can barely lift your arm. Fortunately, Jesus doesn't need you to be strong enough to pull yourself into the boat. He's perfectly capable of reaching down, taking hold of you, and lifting you out of the water.

All He needs is your willingness to let Him help.

But suppose that instead of accepting His help, you push His hand away. Perhaps you believe you can still make it on your own, or maybe you're afraid of what will happen if you let someone else take control.

Jesus doesn't give up on you. He continues reaching, encouraging you to trust Him. He knows you're going to drown without His help, and He desperately wants to save you.

But there's something He won't do. He won't force you to accept His rescue.

And that tells us something important about salvation.

Jesus came into our world because He knew we couldn't save ourselves. He lived among us, suffered with us, and willingly gave His life so that we could live forever with Him (John 3:16–17).

He has already done everything necessary to make our rescue possible. We cannot earn it, and we certainly cannot accomplish it ourselves.

Our part is simply to stop resisting Him and willingly accept His help.

Even the desire to be rescued is something God awakens within us. Jesus said that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws that person (John 6:44).

God takes the initiative. He comes looking for us, helps us recognize our need, and invites us to trust Him.

But He leaves the decision with us.

We can accept His offer of life, or we can refuse it.

Life in the Lifeboat

Now imagine that you've accepted His hand. Jesus pulls you from the water, welcomes you into His lifeboat, and begins taking you home.

For the first time in what seems like forever, you can rest. You're no longer struggling to keep your head above water, and you don't have to worry about finding your own way across the ocean.

Jesus knows the way.

As you recover, you begin noticing the other people aboard. Some are resting after their own rescue. Others are helping one another, sharing food, offering encouragement, and caring for those who are still weak.

And then you notice something else.

Jesus is still looking out across the water.

There are more people out there, struggling against the waves, and He wants to bring them aboard too.

He invites you to help.

You remember how frightened you were when you thought you were going to drown. You remember the relief of seeing His hand reaching toward you. And now you have an opportunity to help someone else experience that same rescue.

Of course you want to help!

Not because Jesus has told you that you must earn your place in the boat, but because you're grateful for what He's done for you. You want others to know that they don't have to keep struggling either.

This is what Jesus had in mind when He told His followers to go into the world, share the Gospel, and teach others to follow Him (Matthew 28:18–20).

He invites rescued people to help Him rescue others.

And the more time you spend with Jesus, the more you begin to understand His love for every person still struggling in the water.

Learning to Trust the Captain

As the journey continues, you discover that Jesus has instructions for everyone aboard.

He asks people to be kind to one another, to share what they have, to tell the truth, and to care for those who need help. He doesn't want anyone stealing from another passenger, hurting someone, or allowing selfishness to destroy the peace and happiness of those around them.

Sometimes His instructions concern your own safety.

Suppose Jesus tells you not to climb over the railing while the boat is moving through dangerous waves. You might not understand everything He knows about the ocean, but you've already discovered that He loves you and knows how to keep you safe.

So you listen.

You don't obey because you're afraid He'll throw you overboard if you refuse. You obey because you trust Him.

And that's where God's law comes into the picture.

The Ten Commandments aren't a list of things we must accomplish before Jesus will rescue us. They reveal what love looks like in our relationship with God and with one another.

Jesus explained that the entire law rests on two great principles: loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37–40).

The first four commandments teach us how to love and honor God, while the remaining six teach us how to treat one another.

God's law also helps us recognize the sins from which we need rescuing (Romans 3:20). But knowing what is right doesn't give us the power to save ourselves. Just as a swimming manual cannot carry a drowning person across the ocean, knowing God's commandments cannot give us eternal life.

That's why we need Jesus.

And once we've accepted His rescue, those commandments don't suddenly become unimportant. We begin to understand them differently.

Instead of seeing them as requirements we must fulfill to persuade God to accept us, we begin to recognize them as life-preserver instructions from Someone who already loves us and wants the very best for us.b

Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15, KJV)

He didn't say that keeping His commandments would make Him love us.

He already loves us.

And as we come to know Him, we begin to love Him in return. We want to do what He asks because we've discovered that He can be trusted.

But there's something even more wonderful about this relationship. Jesus doesn't simply hand us a list of instructions and expect us to figure out how to obey them.

He promises to change our hearts.

In Ezekiel 36:26–27, God promises to give His people new hearts and put His Spirit within them, enabling them to walk in His ways.

The One who rescues us also gives us the desire and strength to live differently.

What Happens When We Don't Listen?

Of course, being rescued doesn't mean we suddenly understand everything or never make another mistake.

Imagine that one day Jesus gives you an instruction, and you ignore it. Perhaps you become impatient with another passenger, say something hurtful, or insist on doing something your own way.

Does Jesus immediately throw you back into the ocean?

Of course not!

He loves you just as much as He did when He first reached down to save you. He understands your weaknesses, and He knows that learning to trust Him is something that grows as you spend time together.

He helps you recognize what went wrong, invites you to make things right, and continues teaching you how to live.

The Bible tells us that when we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Think about Peter. He loved Jesus, yet when Jesus was arrested, Peter became frightened and denied knowing Him three times. Jesus didn't abandon Peter. After His resurrection, He lovingly restored him and entrusted him with the responsibility of caring for others (John 21:15–19).

Jesus knows the difference between someone who is struggling to follow Him and someone who has decided they no longer want His help.

And that distinction is important.

Suppose a passenger eventually decides that he doesn't want Jesus telling him what to do. He doesn't want to follow the Captain's instructions, doesn't want to go where Jesus is taking the boat, and doesn't want to live the kind of life Jesus is offering.

He wants to return to the ocean and make his own way.

Jesus will continue loving him. He will reason with him, warn him of the danger, and encourage him to stay.

But He won't force him to remain.

And if that person ultimately chooses to reject Jesus and His offer of life, Jesus will respect that decision, even though He knows where it leads.

This isn't because Jesus has stopped loving him or is looking for a reason to condemn him.

It's because love cannot be forced.

Jesus came to save us from sin and death, but He will not compel us to accept the life He offers.

We can choose to trust Him, or we can choose to reject Him.

And if we reject the only One who can give us eternal life, where else can we go?

Why Would Anyone Want to Jump Back Into the Ocean?

There's something worth thinking about here.

Imagine how grateful you would be after Jesus pulled you from the water. You were drowning, and now you're safe. You were frightened, and now you're surrounded by people who care about you. You had no hope of reaching your destination, and now the Captain Himself is taking you there.

Why would you ever want to jump back into the ocean?

Yet that's what sin tempts us to do.

It invites us to return to the very things Jesus came to rescue us from.

Sometimes those things seem attractive. Sometimes we think we know better than Jesus. And sometimes we simply don't understand why He asks us to live differently.

But the more we come to know Him, the more we discover that His instructions are never intended to deprive us of something good.

He knows what sin does to people. He has seen the suffering it causes, the relationships it destroys, and the lives it ruins.

He doesn't want us to experience those things.

He wants us to live.

And that's why obedience matters.

Not because our obedience earns us eternal life, but because trusting Jesus means allowing Him to lead us away from the things that destroy life.

When He shows us something wrong in our lives, we don't have to defend it or pretend it isn't there. We can acknowledge it, confess it, and ask Him to change our hearts so that we no longer want to do it.

Even that change is His work in us.

Our part is to cooperate rather than resist.

The Rescue That Lasts Forever

There's one final difference between being rescued from drowning and being rescued by Jesus.

A lifeguard can pull you from the water and save your life today. He may give you many more years with the people you love.

But eventually, you will still die.

Jesus offers something no earthly rescuer can provide.

He offers eternal life.

He came from Heaven, lived among us, died for our sins, and rose again so that death would not have the final word.

And He has promised to return and take His people home (John 14:1–3).

One day, there will be no more storms, no more suffering, and no more death. God will make everything new, and those who have accepted His gift of life will live with Him forever (Revelation 21:1–4).

Imagine finally arriving at that beautiful city.

You step ashore, look back across the ocean, and realize that you could never have made that journey on your own.

But you didn't have to.

Jesus came for you.

He reached for you when you couldn't save yourself. He welcomed you aboard, cared for you, taught you how to live, and invited you to help Him rescue others along the way.

And now He's brought you home.

Not because you were a good swimmer.

Not because you earned the journey.

But because He loved you enough to come looking for you, and you were willing to let Him save you.

His Hand Is Still Reaching

Perhaps you've spent much of your life trying to be good enough for God. Maybe you've believed that if you could just overcome your weaknesses, do enough good things, or become a better person, Jesus would finally accept you.

But you don't have to make yourself worthy of His rescue.

He already loves you.

You don't have to swim out into the middle of the ocean to prove that you've tried your best. You don't have to wait until you've exhausted every other possibility.

And you certainly don't have to become a better swimmer before accepting His invitation.

Jesus is offering to save you right now.

He isn't asking you to accomplish what only He can do. He's asking you to trust Him enough to let Him do it.

And once you've accepted His help, He isn't going to leave you alone to figure everything out.

He will teach you, forgive you when you stumble, change your heart, and help you become the person He created you to be.

You can resist Him, or you can surrender to His love.

You can insist on trying to save yourself, or you can let Jesus take you home.

If you'd like to accept His invitation, you can tell Him right now:

"Jesus, I know I cannot save myself. Thank You for loving me enough to come looking for me. I want to stop resisting You and let You change my heart. Please forgive my sins, teach me to trust You, and help me follow wherever You lead. I accept Your offer of life."

You can't swim to Heaven.

But you don't have to.

Jesus is waiting.  Now it's up to you.