Which verses would
you take to the desert island?
So here I am on a desert island! Not sure how it
happened to be honest - one minute I was sat in a coffee shop in Cardiff, then
the next minute I’m all alone on an island with nothing to my name but palm
trees, a handful of coconuts and a basketball called Wilson. Still it could be
worse - I could be stranded on Barry Island!
Joking aside, I’m actually still here in the coffee
shop in Cardiff and there are no waves or coconuts in sight. But this is still
an intriguing exercise - if I was cast away and cut off from the rest of the
world on a deserted island, with only a handful of Bible verses, which ones
would I want to help me to navigate the various moments and moods that might
ensue? For what it’s worth, here are the ones I’d want to be pulling from the
pockets of my faded Bermuda shorts…
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my
own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:25
I would want this verse that has perhaps impacted my
life more than any other. Through
this verse, I not only hear the voice of God declaring the totality of
forgiveness I have received for ALL my sins - past, present and future. But I
am also reminded why God has forgiven me - for His sake, not
mine! Since he forgives me for His own sake, not mine, then by neither
receiving nor revelling in His forgiveness, I am depriving Him the glory and
joy of forgiving me. Understanding this one truth has brought me more freedom
than my feeble words could ever convey.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21
Another scripture I may well be clinging to would be
the one that God gave me and my mam when she was first diagnosed with cancer. It is perhaps the ultimate win-win verse for a Christian
contemplating life and death. My mam lived for Christ more fully and
beautifully than any other human I’ve ever known; and now, having finished her
course and left the pain and struggle of this world behind, she is enjoying the
glorious gain of eternal paradise in the presence of her Saviour. If I’m gonna
die on this island I reckon I’ll want the same verse to give me the same peace.
The heavens declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great
is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. Psalm 103:11
One of the things I’d most appreciate about my new
desert island setting would be the lack of invasive synthetic lighting. I’d
like to think that, with an absence of street lights and shimmering city
illumination, I’d be able to see the stars in all their glorious beauty. And as
I star-bathe beneath the Milky Way I’d mediate on verses like these which would
remind me that, whatever circumstances I’m currently faced with down here, I
have a God above who is both glorious and loving and worthy of my worship.
I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
As an extrovert, I’m pretty sure that loneliness would
be one of the biggest challenges that I would face on the island, so I would need
to be reminded that I am never truly alone because my God is with me. Therefore
I would almost certainly need this promise I’ve clung to and quoted throughout
my Christian life.
My
grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2
Corinthians 12:19
Perhaps a verse that I would find myself quoting as I
scrabbled around the island and generally tried to stay alive would be these
gracious words of Jesus to the Apostle Paul to encourage Him in the midst of
his agonising struggles.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger,
or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day
long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither
death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans
8:35-39
I am sure that there will be moments when I’ll be
sinking in depression and great despair on the island and I’ll need some
seriously chunky Scriptures to keep me afloat. During such times there are not
many better options than these verses.
So
you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Galatians 4:7
This would be another little nugget I’d definitely
want in my pocket. It has been my favourite verse for many, many years now. It’s a verse that perfectly and succinctly captures my
testimony and crystallises the security that I now have in my new identity as a
blood-bought child of God and co-heir with Christ. It has also been a great encouragement
to me in moments of great temptation and deep shame as it reminds me that I no
longer have to live as a slave to sin.
You
will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19
This verse I’d like to have as the water laps around
my little island on every side. It would
both graphically illustrate and help me to celebrate the forgiveness I have in
Christ.
The
Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice
over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you
with loud singing. Zephanaiah 3:17
This verse means a lot to me as it blew my mind when I
first discovered it and has continued to do so ever since. This verse has shown
me that, while God is holy and pure and just and righteously wrathful, He is
also a Saviour who graciously draws near, appeases our turbulent hearts with
His great love and even sings loudly for joy over us as His precious, redeemed
people. On those days when I might not feel like singing to Him, I would be reminded
that He is singing over me, and I’d like to think that hearing His song with
ears of faith might cause my song to rise again.
Who would you like
to find on the island for company?
If I could take one person to the island with me it
would have to be the Welsh preaching warrior, Seth Joshua. Seth is from my
hometown, Pontypool, and was a bare-knuckled boxer before Jesus grabbed hold of
his life and commissioned him to take the gospel to some of the darkest and
most dangerous places in Wales. I’d want to hear some of his stories, be
inspired by his courageous faith, glean from his wisdom and most of all learn
from him how to pray more fervently. I’d also probably ask for some boxing tips
too! (Check out Geraint Fielder’s epic book ‘Grace, Grit and Gumption’ to learn
more about Seth).
If I only had one song to sing on my island it would
have to be my favourite ever hymn, ‘It is well with my soul’ by the wonderfully
named Horatio Gates Spafford. I’ve sung this song more than any other and still
can’t sing the third verse without tears welling up.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
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