The Survivor’s Guide

“Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obligated in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Utopia, what a paradise would this region be.”

John Adams

Kirk Cameron’s Comment

I love reading the Bible. It is without a doubt my favorite book to read and my survival guide for life—both this one and the one to come.

Questions & Objections

Lesson

In the well-known movie Castaway, a high-powered FedEx manager found himself marooned on a deserted island. Some of the packages from his crashed plane had washed up on the shore, so the lone survivor began going through each package, opening them and retrieving what he could to help him survive on the island. He found a pair of ice skates, which he made into a knife, as well as a number of other helpful items. However, he decided not to open one of the boxes, but kept it in the hope that one day he would be rescued and be able to hand-deliver it to its owner.

One of the film’s climaxes was his intense battle to create fire. He rubbed sticks together for hours until finally there was smoke, followed by a small flame, and then a fire. The ecstatic castaway danced and sang for joy around his homemade bonfire.

For the next four years the poor man lived in a cave. He struggled with loneliness to the point of almost losing his mind. He caught fish with a sharpened wooden pole, and survived by eating coconuts and crabs. At one point he was so plagued with an agonizing toothache, he was driven to smash a large rock into the end of the ice skates to knock the tooth out. The pain was so great that he passed out.

He finally left the island on a homemade raft and was discovered—almost out of his mind and near death—by a passing ship.

He arrived back in the States to discover that his beloved girlfriend thought that he had died and therefore had married another. The movie ended with the heartbroken survivor hand-delivering the unopened package to its owner, the audience still not being privy to its contents.

Here’s what the package may have contained: Novocain, a flare gun, a satellite cellular telephone, a blanket, a compass, a cave liner, an inflatable bed, a life preserver, waterproof matches, batteries, a first-aid kit, a solar-powered battery charger, a Swiss army knife, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a coconut- and crab-cracker.

Have you opened the package that God gave you in His Word? Or are you like the many who don’t see the Bible as the ultimate Survivor’s Guide? It contains all things necessary for godliness and tells us how to survive not only in this life, but also in the next. We are assured that “his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). The Bible tells us how to hold on to faith and a good conscience, so that we don’t shipwreck our faith (1 Timothy 1:19).

God’s Word will also teach you how to be a fisher of men. It will even place in your hand the rod of the Law of God, to get the point across to sinners. There are two pieces of wood that two thousand years ago were joined together. They can start a fire in the coldest of hearts, and that fire will burn for eternity. The Bible tells us how to use faith to produce a joy that will carry us through life. It will teach us how to deal with the pains of everyday living, and how to have all our needs supplied in Christ. The psalmist exclaimed, “I rejoice at your word, as one that finds great spoil” (Psalm 119:162). The Scriptures are full of unspeakable riches.

The Word of God even provides us with the way to have a hotline to heaven so that if we find ourselves shipwrecked by life, there is deliverance through faith in Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Those who fail to open the wealth of God’s Word are liable to fall into “many foolish and hurtful lusts” (1 Timothy 6:9). Let’s feed on the Bible and heed the words of the apostle Paul, who said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Preacher’s Progress

A sample witnessing conversation, written in the style of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Questions

1. List three “survival” techniques that you have learned through opening the Bible.
2. What has God given us, according to 2 Peter 1:3?
3. How can the Bible help us avoid shipwrecking our faith?
4. Over what did the psalmist rejoice?
5. What did Paul bring into subjection, and why did he do so?
6. What do you think Paul meant by bringing his body into subjection?

Answers to these review questions are provided in the back of the printed book / source PDF.

Memory Verse

“Your word is true from the beginning: and every one of your righteous judgments endures for ever.”

Psalm 119:160

Last Words

Adoniram Judson (1788–1850), missionary to Burma, was privileged to see hundreds converted to Christ. Broken in health, he died while making a voyage to the Isle of Bourbon. Before he breathed his last, he said to those around him onboard the ship: “I go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school, I feel so strong in Christ.”

Adoniram Judson