The Lifeline

Edwin Ufford watched intently from Point Allerton, near Boston. He observed men practicing drills and rehearsing the needed steps to take when men went overboard. To know how to respond to critical situations.

Born in February 1851, in Newark, New Jersey, Ufford sensed the spiritual applications from these drills. When he returned home, he wrote a poem to describe the principles he had witnessed.

Called “Throw Out the Lifeline,” his poem reminded believers that they could not just watch as others drown with sin. He wrote, “Throw out the lifeline across the dark wave.” To open our eyes to see that “someone is drifting away” or sinking.

We have the opportunity to rescue them if we would quickly throw them the lifeboat. We need to recognize those who have been caught up in the “winds of temptation,” how “billows of woe will soon hurl them out where the dark waters flow.” Ufford had a sense of urgency. There was “no time for delay,” or for many it could be too late.

Ufford also had a message for those needing salvation. He urged them to take the “lifeline” that was being tossed to them. They might feel hopeless, “baffled by waves of temptation and sin” and “wild winds of passion.” But there was a way to be rescued! To realize that “Jesus is mighty, and Jesus can save.”

This poem later became the basis for a hymn that helped many troubled souls.

Do you know someone who is struggling? Drifting into dangerous waters? Drowning with temptations? Throw out the lifeline!