One of the reasons John Newton sailed from England instead of the more lucrative America's trade routes was simple love: he had fallen head over heels for Mary Catlett, the daughter of one of his late mother's closest friends. The trade routes to the Mediterranean at least allowed him to return to see her about once a year. Once, staying too long, he was pressed into the service of the Royal Navy - a five year journey that would surely mean the end of his relationship with Mary.
Despairing of her love, he even contemplated throwing himself into the sea in an act of final desperation. Yet incredible as it may sound, romantic love may sometimes have the potential to become a powerful vehicle of redeeming grace in the life of a fallen man. Later in life he wrote that only the thought of Mary kept him from any rash actions, and he waited and persevered throughout the long years to return to her.
God protects us from ourselves by the power of love
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