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Adventurer Paul

Growing up, I was always drawn to adventure stories. In books or on television, I was always quickly caught up in them. I remember three TV series that always inspired me to go out and try to solve a dilemma or rescue someone just like the  TV show’s characters.

One show was Sky King. In this series the star always managed to find a reason to fly his airplane around and rescue someone in trouble. I loved airplanes and after watching that TV show I’d go outside and sit in a big box my Dad had brought home for us to play in. It became my airplane and in my imagination I’d fly around looking for someone in trouble I could rescue. When I grew up I did manage to learn to fly airplanes and loved to fly for real. Although I never was able to stop any bad guys or rescue any damsels in distress.

Another show I liked was Ripcord. This show had two guys who were always jumping out of an airplane and parachuting down to catch a bad guy or to rescue a fair maiden. And after watching this show I’d run around in circles in the yard pretending I was descending to the earth, about to pull my own ripcord. Sometimes I’d even climb up on Dad’s ladder and jump off the higher rungs as I practiced my skydiving landings ending with a roll as I hit the ground. I think that’s why I have worn out leg joints now days. But I loved the show and the thought of skydiving. I even had a toy skydiver with a red and white plastic parachute that I’d never tire of throwing up in the air and then watching it float back to earth. By the time I got old enough to actually skydive I had already decided I’d rather be inside an airplane flying it. I never did jump out of one.

The other adventurous TV show I liked to watch was called Sea Hunt. This show had a SCUBA diver using his special skills when called upon to dive underwater to retrieve lost treasure or to rescue people. I liked this show and thought that some day I’d like to SCUBA dive too. But I had allergies and was worried that I’d sneeze into my face mask. I asked my Dad if the air would be cleaner from a SCUBA tank and keep me from sneezing. He did some checking on my question and told me that the air in the tanks was often stale and contaminated with mildew or mold. And that didn’t sound so good.

I had to give up my hopes of SCUBA diving but I still practiced holding my breath underwater especially in the bathtub on Saturday nights. Once, after a Sea Hunt episode I had an argument with my older brother about who could hold their breath the longest. We argued back and forth and speculated that I, being a flutist, (a flute player) would have better air control than my brother Dan, a trumpet player. But when Mom stepped in with her watch and had us take a breath and hold it, I was the one who gasped for air first. And that put an end to my underwater adventure hopes.

I was still drawn to adventure stories, though, especially when the main character used his special skills to search out and rescue  someone lost and hurting. More so if it was a pretty young girl. Over the years my favorite stories always seemed to involve this theme.

Maybe that is why I’m drawn to the story of salvation in the Bible. There I learn about the lost condition in which we all find ourselves. It’s described in Ephesians 2.12

that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But God didn’t leave us in our lost condition without hope. He took pity on us, coming to the earth to rescue us as only He could as it says in Romans 5.6

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

So if we are looking for a Rescuer we only need to believe what Jesus Christ has done for us by offering Himself on the cross for us, dying and being resurrected, according to what the Bible says. When we do we will find that we are rescued and given eternal life. And that’s the best adventure story there is.

Romans 10.11

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”