Back in the ancient days when I was young, I worked offshore on an oil rig derrick barge as a “rigger” for a while. These giant barges would float pre-constructed oil rigs far out to sea and then would anchor them in place by driving huge pipes hundreds of feet into the ocean floor through openings in each of the four legs of the rig.
My job was to securely rig cables to the pipes in order for the derrick to lift the huge steel pipes. After cabling the pipe, the derrick would then pick it up, swing it into position and place the pipe through the leg openings, (one pipe on top of another), and then a crew of welders would weld the two pipes together. It took about six hours for the welding team to weld them together. Once the welding was completed, the derrick would use a big hammer-like device to drive the steel post down into the ocean floor which took another several hours. Then another pipe would need to be cabled and lifted into place and the process would repeat itself.
On a twelve hour shift I felt overworked if I had to rig up three pipes; my norm was two for an entire shift. It took about twenty minutes to rig the cables to the pipes. What did I do while they were welding or driving posts? I would lay in one of those big pipes and lounge around and watch the others work. Talk about an easy job.
On this rig the food was terrific and we would stuff on it; we could watch TV, fish, play cards, and rest. I would “work” twelve hours per day for ten straight days and then would come in and be off work for four days. With overtime I made very good money and when I hit the streets in the New Orleans French Quarter I had a roll of hundred dollar bills in each of my pockets that would choke a horse.
Four days later I would hop on the crew boat for the five hour ride back offshore to the oil rig. I would be penniless and extremely hung over with little memory of anything that had happened while I was partying down. I often would have bruises and cuts on my body that I assumed were from fighting and I’d wonder if I won or lost the fight.
This was the “good life” for me at the time. It was however a very dangerous job in more ways than one. Getting a finger or two cut off, or leg crushed was commonplace for riggers, but the worst danger I experienced was one time when we got caught in the leading edge of a “Tropical Storm”. Our barge captain was a stubborn guy of German descent and we were behind schedule, so he ignored the storm warnings and waited too long before deciding to leave. We worked right up until the first band of the storm unleashed its fury upon us.
I very nearly died in that storm by being washed away after being ordered by my boss to bring welding rods down off the rig and onto the barge in the middle of this raging storm. We were experiencing twenty foot swells and the only way to get on the rig was to walk up a moving gangplank with swift water furiously rushing underneath it. Raging forty knot winds were howling so loud we could not hear a word even when it was shouted; stinging rain was pelting our faces, all in the utter black darkness of the eerie night.
I was walking down the gangplank from the rig to the barge with a fifty pound can of welding rods on each shoulder, suddenly a large wave lifted the gangplank and I experienced it lurch and lost my balance and very nearly was swept away. Fortunately I landed on my rump on the very wet and slick ramp and quickly slid all of the way down to the barge floor and landed with a thud right in front of my boss at his feet.
It might have been comical to an onlooker, but I can assure you that I was not in any mood for laughter. He looked at me and told me to get back up there. I was hopping mad and got up and stood about three inches from his face and told him through clenched teeth that I quit, and I then went on to carefully explain in terms, (that I will not use here), as to my strategy as to what he could do with his “valuable” welding rods.
I then angrily “stalked” inside where it was warm and dry. Minutes later I was joined by my best friend who had just quit too, because the boss screamed at him for not properly tying a line on a tugboat that was in the process of sinking in the storm.
I was thinking back on this incident of how I was very nearly swept away to a horrible death probably never to be found in the middle of the night in that terrible storm.
At the time I was living in the darkness of the raging storm of sin as an unbeliever. It is more frightening to remember and realize that if I had not “quit” living the life of sin that I was living, and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior I would have been swept away by it and forever lost.
If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are in “grave” danger of being swept away to a spiritual death, forever lost and separated from the love of God and His light.
Why not just quit being an unbeliever and receive your brand new life before it’s too late. Tell Satan what he can do with his life of darkness. Don’t be swept away into the torment of darkness of eternal lonely nights never to be seen or heard from again, permanently blotted out of the Book of Life. Allow our Lord to clothe and feed you and lead you to safety, peace, and the radiant warmth of His shining beautiful light.
He has gone to prepare a place for all of those who love Him and soon He will come back to gather all of His children where we can live with Him forever. The Bible states, that Jesus stands at the door to our hearts and knocks, won’t you invite Him in so your name can be recorded in the Book of Life?
Rev. 3:5
He who overcomes shall be
clothed in white garments, and I will
not blot out his name from the
Book of Life; but I will confess his
name before My Father and before
His angels.