31st July 2024
Titanic
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV)
She was gigantic for her time, the pride of the British White Star Line. Built in Belfast and measuring 882.5 feet in length and weighing almost 50,000 tons, she was the largest ship afloat. Her 100-ton rudder was as high as a large house and her main anchor weighed 15 tons. She held 6,000 tons of coal to feed her 29 coal-fired boilers. Her interior was fitted with the finest materials and craftsmanship, and nothing afloat could match her sheer elegance. Her name was Titanic, meaning: one gigantic in size or power.
Her builders, and veteran of the seas Captain E. J. Smith, had total confidence in her seaworthiness. Some even boasted that Titanic was unsinkable! She departed Southampton for New York on her maiden voyage Wednesday April 10th 1912, at 11.45am. After four days at sea her chief wireless operator received five warnings, from other ships in the area, of dangerous icebergs. Sadly the warnings were ignored, and at 11.40pm Titanic hit a large iceberg causing a 300 feet gash in the starboard forepart of the ship. It took 2 hours and 40 minutes for the great ship to sink. When the final count was made, 705 passengers were rescued that night into the ship’s lifeboats, and over 1500 souls perished.
This maritime disaster, over a century ago, was clearly avoidable, if only the captain had heeded the warnings!
Another and much greater tragedy occurred approximately 4,300 years previously when the biblical character Noah built a massive wooden ship designed to save human and animal life from an impending world flood. After many years of Noah preaching a warning message of impending disaster, no one, apart from him and his extended family heeded the call for repentance. As a consequence all other human life perished when the flood arrived (Genesis 7). The Bible doesn’t tell us how many people were living at the time of the great flood, but some estimate it in the millions.
Sadly, we human beings have a proclivity to ignore the sound advice of those who know best. Much pain and regret could be avoided if only people were willing to heed wise counsel. The book of Proverbs was written by king Solomon of ancient Israel to his son, ‘To know wisdom and instruction, to [discern] the words of understanding, To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity…’ (Proverbs 1:2-3). Unfortunately his son Rehoboam didn’t follow the wise instruction of his father, and, as a consequence, his 17 year reign in Jerusalem was divisive and troublesome. (2 Chronicles 12:1; 1 Kings 12:1-24).
Listening to, and heeding wise counsel and instruction, can save us untold worry, frustration and hardship. But no matter how good the advice of other people is, it is more important for us to listen to God’s wisdom and guidance which will benefit us not only for this life but for all eternity
Prayer
Help us Father in heaven to always seek wise counsel and advice, and not lean on our own, often faulty reasonings and decisions. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
Study by John Magowan
About the writer:
John Magowan attends the Lisburn congregation of Grace Communion International, Northern Ireland.
Local congregation:
Lisburn Grace Communion
Ballymacbrennan School House
129A Saintfield Road
Lisburn
BT27 5PG
Meeting time:
Sunday 11.00 am
Local congregational contact:
Bob Beggs
Email:lisburngracecom@gmail.com
(www.grace-ni.org)
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church