The following drama was originally reported by Peter Michelmore in the October 1987 READER'S DIGEST: Normally the flight from Nassau to Miami took Walter Wyatt, Jr., only sixty- five minutes. But on December 5, 1986, he attempted it after thieves had looted the navigational equipment in his Beechcraft. With only a compass and a hand-held radio, Walter flew into skies blackened by storm clouds. When his compass began to gyrate, Walter concluded he was headed in the wrong direction. He flew his plane below the clouds, hoping to spot something, but soon he knew he was lost.
Walter put out a mayday call, which brought a Coast Guard Falcon search plane to lead him to an emergency landing strip only six miles away. Suddenly Wyatt's right engine coughed its last and died. The fuel tank had run dry. Around 8 p.m. Wyatt could do little more than glide the plane into the water. Wyatt survived the crash, but his plane disappeared quickly, leaving him bobbing on the water in a leaky life vest.
With blood on his forehead, Wyatt floated on his back. Suddenly he felt a hard bump against his body. A shark had found him. Wyatt kicked
the intruder and wondered if he would survive the night. He managed to stay afloat for the next ten hours. In the morning, Wyatt saw no airplanes, but in the water a dorsal fin was headed for him. Twisting, he felt the hide of a shark brush against him. In a moment, two more bull sharks sliced through the water toward him. Again he kicked the sharks, and they veered away, but he was nearing exhaustion. Then he heard the sound of a distant aircraft.
When the aircraft was within a half mile, Walter waved his orange vest. The pilot radioed the Cape York, which was twelve minutes away: "Get moving, cutter! There's a shark targeting this guy!" As the Cape York pulled alongside Wyatt, a Jacob's ladder was dropped 
over the side. Wyatt climbed wearily out of the water and onto the ship, where he fell to his knees and kissed the deck. He'd been saved. He didn't need encouragement or better techniques. Nothing less than outside intervention could have rescued him from sure death. How much we are like Walter Wyatt.
Life is much like Walter's experience. At birth you began life’s journey. As you grew, you sought to find your way. As tine passed, storm clouds rolled in and your compass readings seemed unsure. Life got out of control, although you may have thought you were in control. You ran out of gas and you were lost. Before you knew it you are floundering in the sea, helplessly at the "mercy" of the shark. The shark is Satan, also called the devil. His delight is in keeping you lost, preventing your rescue and destroying you.
The rescuer has arrived! He is standing by and has let the ladder down for you. He is the One who can give you a new life, one with meaning and purpose in the here and now. The life He offers lasts forever. It is a birth that transcends physical death and carries you over to an eternal home in heaven.
The Bible shows us the way. I Peter 1:3-5 says, "Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade -- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
At the beginning of life you were safely held in the arms of God. The Bible teaches that children go to heaven when they die. But when one reaches the age at which he/she is able to know right from wrong and realize that the sins committed are sins against God, that person becomes responsible for his or her own actions. unless the person chooses to let Jesus Christ have control of his or her life, that person becomes lost.
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For Some, this awareness and ability to decide come by the age of 7 or 8. For others, perhaps around age 12 or 13. Generally, this is so by the time a person reaches the teen years, unless there is a mental deformity that slows or prevents this awareness. God understands this and keeps that person safe when unable to make this type of distinction. When a lost person dies, that person goes to a fiery hell that lasts forever.
God loves you and does not want you to go to hell. But heaven is a holy place and because of your sins, you cannot enter. But you may say, "I live a good moral life and do good deeds for others." That does not compensate for your sins. Every person has sinned. Even unbelief in God's Son, Jesus Christ, is sin. In fact, it is the greatest sin of all. We cannot be good enough to be saved. Romans 3:23 in the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Is there any hope? It sounds so hopeless!
There is one way, and one way only for you to be saved. This way will (1) allow you to escape the horrors of an eternal hell, (2) provide you an eternal home in heaven with God, a place where there is peace, no sorrow, no tears, no sickness and no night, (3) assure the presence and guidance of God through His Holy Spirit who will come to live within you. This way is Jesus Christ who said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
God's love for you is so great that, knowing you would sin and disqualify yourself from heaven, He sent His own Son to offer Himself as a sacrifice for your sins. Jesus had no sin of His own and qualified as a sacrifice for your. He took your sins on Himself and offers you His righteousness. You cannot earn salvation; it is a gift, but you must accept it. Ephesians 2:8-9, speaking to believing Christians says, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." God raised Jesus from the dead after He had been in the grave for three days. Jesus remained on the earth for 40 more days and appeared to over 500 people at once before ascending into heaven as the people watched. One day, before bringing the world to an end, He will return to earth.
You receive the new life by allowing Jesus Christ to take control of your life. No longer are you living for yourself, but you are living to allow God to work His plan for your life.
If you are ready for God to rescue you from the shark and give you this new life, you simply need to sincerely, in an act of commitment, turn from your 
sins and ask God to take charge of your life. A prayer such as the following, or in your own words, can help facilitate this decision.
Dear God, I am a wretched sinner and do not deserve your love. But I thank you that you love me anyway. I am sorry for my sins and turn from them to you. I now trust your Son Jesus Christ and invite Him to be Lord of my life. Please save me, indwell me with Your Holy Spirit and take charge of my life. My life will be lived to your honor and glory from now on.
Thank you, Father, for saving me and giving me eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, my Savior, Amen
If you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior or re-committed yourself to Him, to live a life more pleasing to Him, please let me know. Just go to the email page and drop me a note.
Do you need help on what to do next, when you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior? I'll be glad to help you. In the meantime, find a church that teaches salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and baptizes by immersion in water, like Jesus was baptized. Baptist churches believe and practice this, but there are also other evangelical churches that do also. I hope this will help guide you in your country and the specific area in which you live.
Take care,
-- Don
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