It was a hot summer day and the swimming pool was packed with children. Overhead the sky was clear and there was no wind. Everything looked normal and safe.
And then, almost out of nowhere, a summer storm was brewing. Threatening thunder clouds had gathered, and suddenly they opened up. Rain poured down and thunder rumbled too close for comfort. The lifeguards ordered the pool to be evacuated and quickly whistled for everyone to get out.
All the children began to head for the ladders to climb out, but the storm was moving faster than the children were. Travis, the head lifeguard, saw that those still in the pool were in danger and that something had to be done, and fast! He jumped into the water and began tossing the children out of the pool as fast as he could. Blinding flashes of lightning with deafening cracks of thunder were all around.
The people at the swimming pool had little warning of their danger, but you and I have had God’s warning of danger ahead for our entire lives. The Bible is God’s letter to us, and in it He tells us plainly that we are sinners and that there is judgment ahead for our sins. Just as those children needed help to get away from their danger, you and I cannot get away by ourselves from our sins and the judgment we deserve. We need help! Jesus has done that by putting Himself in the path of the judgment to save us.
Travis threw the last girl out of the pool and then scrambled out himself—just as a lightning bolt struck the water! The bolt momentarily blinded the bystanders who feared that both the lifeguard and the child had been struck in the water. They had made it out of the pool, but Travis lay unconscious on the deck.
After a few moments, Travis regained consciousness. As his mind began to clear, he realized how close a call it had been—the water in the pool was still steaming from the lightning strike. You can be sure that every child and every parent was grateful to Travis for what he had done for them!
Thankfully, Travis was not killed in saving those children, but Jesus had no choice but to die to save us from our sins. Because God loves you and me so much, He sent the Lord Jesus down here to take that punishment on the cross for the sins of every person who will accept Him as his or her Saviour. The girl in the pool could have said to Travis, “I’ll get out by myself!” Instead, she let Travis lift her out of danger. Will you let the Lord Jesus remove you from your danger by letting Him wash away your sins? You can’t do it by yourself. He is the only One who can. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
ML-08/17/2014