One bright summer afternoon, Mark and Andy were making their way cautiously down a steep mountain trail near Pike’s Peak, a mountain in the western United States. As they rounded a curve they noticed the entrance to a cave. It was boarded up, and over it was a large sign: “DANGER! KEEP OUT!”
Mark stopped to peer between the boards into the darkness, exclaiming, “I would like to explore this cave! Will you go with me?”
“Certainly not!” replied Andy, and he begged him not to try it. But Mark was determined.
At the foot of the trail Mark picked up a flashlight, said good-bye to his friend, and returned to the cave. Pushing aside the barriers, he boldly entered the deep, dark cavern. At first his light seemed barely to penetrate the dense darkness, but as his eyes became more accustomed to the darkness he could make out rough walls and rocks and a path, down which he cautiously moved. All seemed to go well for a time, but suddenly he stepped off into space and fell down a steep place, where he lay unconscious.
There are many today who, like Mark, are groping their way through life using the flickering light of reason as their guide. They expect the end of their lives to be “a leap in the dark,” not knowing where they are heading. But the Lord Jesus has promised, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:1212Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)).
When Mark came to, he found himself bruised and sore, his flashlight in pieces at his side, and engulfed in thick darkness. In his pocket he found a few matches which he struck, one by one, only to see them flicker and go out. Their light had shown him the cliff over which he had fallen, but no way to climb back up.
Shaking with cold and terror, he hardly dared to move for fear of falling again, so he crept carefully along on hands and knees until his trousers were worn through and his knees bleeding. He felt as though he were buried alive.
In his despair the sins of his past life came before him, and he cried to God for mercy. It was not for the rescue of his body that he prayed, for that seemed impossible, but to save his never-dying soul. Bible verses which he had often heard, but never heeded, came flooding into his mind: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” These wonderful verses, like warm sunshine, illuminated his dark, cold heart, and he accepted the Lord Jesus as the Saviour who had died for his sins.
Still his plight was unchanged. He decided to keep moving as long as his strength lasted. He had no idea of the passage of time, as he painfully and hopelessly dragged himself over rocks and stones. He thought of his mother, and, finding a piece of paper and a pencil in his pocket, he scribbled a note to her as best he could, telling her not to mourn for him but to rejoice because this dreadful experience had been the means of bringing him to his blessed Saviour, who loved him and had given Himself for him. He wrote her address, asking that his body be sent to her.
Still creeping wearily about, he felt a rope. With wondering hope he followed it until something—was it fresh air?—touched his cheek. On he went; then a pale glimmer of light appeared, which gradually increased until he could dimly see, in the distance, an opening. At last he reached it and emerged into the light! The sun was shining brightly. He had entered the cave at 4 p.m., and it was now noon of the next day.
When picked up by a search party he was a pitiful sight—ragged, bleeding, dirty and weak. He soon recovered from the ordeal, but his spiritual change could never be erased from his soul. He was turned “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:1818To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)).