I read with interest today a story in the news about a dolphin who could not help himself, so it swam to the only source of help it could find.
The story was about a dolphin off the coast of Hawaii. The dolphin had become entangled in a fishing line. The fishing line came from his mouth, where it must have swallowed something attached to the other end, and it went from there down to his left pectoral fin where it was wrapped around the fin and then attached to a fishing hook that was stuck in the fin. With it’s pectoral fin caught up in this fishing line, the dolphin’s movement was hampered greatly, since dolphin’s use their pectoral fins to steer themselves through the water as they swim.
In the news story, this dolphin came searching for someone to help get this fishing line off, and when the dolphin saw a group of professional divers, it swam right up to one of the divers and swam around trying to get the diver to realize it was in need of help. Once the diver realized something was wrong, it reached out to touch the dolphin. And then, the dolphin sat almost motionless in the water and allowed the diver to untangle the fishing line and remove the hook from it’s fin. After a bit of time, the dolphin swam quickly to the surface to get some air, and then immediately returned to the same diver and let him finish removing the line that had entangled it. And then, once it was free from the fishing line, it swam off.
Dolphins generally swim and travel in groups, but this dolphin came alone to find the help it needed. The diver in the news story said, “It’s a huge thrill to be able to help an animal that clearly knows what’s going on,” he said. “He made the effort to come to us… He came to us because he had a problem.”
You know the same is true of millions of people in this world. They are entangled by the flesh, by pride, by selfishness, and by sin. And these things hinder their lives, and prevent them from finding the freedom that only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can offer. Many people it seems are content to just swim around in the world of sin in spite of their entangled lives. HOWEVER, for those who want to be FREED from the entanglements of this world – there is ONLY ONE person who can help.
“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
No matter WHAT entangles us and prevents us from living a life of peace, joy, and contentment – Jesus Christ ALONE can set us free.
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1,2)
Just like the dolphin new the only way it could get the help it needed was to find a human to help it, so it is true in our lives. We often waste all our efforts trying to free ourselves, but ONLY GOD can do that, and ONLY THROUGH HIM can we find the freedom we seek. I’m sure that dolphin probably tried many things to free itself before coming to find that diver, but in the end it realized where the ONLY source of it’s help could be found.
What about you? Are you still trying to free YOURSELF from the entanglements of this life? Try coming to Jesus! HE ALONE has the power to set us free and give us the life we are so desperately seeking after.