Tony Lethbridge was worried. His 17-year-old son, Samuel, should have been home hours ago! What could have happened to him?
He had gone out with some friends on Saturday night in the nearby city of Newcastle, Australia. He should have been home by Sunday morning, at the very latest. After dropping a friend off 30 miles from his parents’ home early Sunday morning, he just seemed to vanish— without a trace!
His father was so concerned that he went to the police for help, but the police told Mr. Lethbridge that his son probably decided to run away. However, his father knew better, saying, “That’s not Samuel.” He knew his son’s character. He knew something was seriously wrong when his son didn’t show up or even phone him!
After Sunday went by without a word or trace of Samuel, he knew that he had to do something. Far too much time had gone by. He remembered another instance where a person had crashed and died from their injuries, because help didn’t arrive in time. He decided that on Monday morning he would hire a helicopter and go looking for his son.
Because Mr. Lethbridge loved his son, he was willing to do whatever was necessary to find him. He did not want him to die alone and without anyone to help him. Because God saw that we were sinners, lost, and on our way to everlasting punishment for our sins, He had compassion on us and sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. . . . God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6,8). What strong love God had towards us, to give His only Son to die for us!
Early Monday morning, Mr. Lethbridge arrived at Skyline Aviation Group, a local company that hired out helicopters. Speaking to Lee Mitchell, pilot and co-owner of the company, he asked him if he could hire a helicopter for $797, which was all the money he had with him at the time. Mr. Mitchell agreed, even though the charge would normally have been $956 per hour. He could see that Mr. Lethbridge was deeply worried and concerned about Samuel. Since Mr. Lethbridge often suffered from air sickness, it was decided that Samuel’s uncle would go up with the pilot.
Fifteen minutes after takeoff, they spotted Samuel’s car, wrecked about 65 feet off the road. He had been just 12 miles from home! Samuel, who was alive, was very badly injured and had to be cut out of the car. He had a number of broken bones and was taken to the hospital where he was placed in intensive care. But at last he was where he could receive the necessary care and treatment that he needed to make a recovery.
One rescuer said that “Samuel was very lucky to be alive, knowing that it was about 30 hours after the crash when he had been found.” Mr. Mitchell, the pilot, stated, “It was fairly easy to spot his car from the air. It would have been nearly impossible to see the car from the road, because it was well below the road level.”
As you can imagine, there was much relief and joy at how well the “search and rescue” turned out. Do you think that Samuel’s father cared about the time and money that he had to pay to find his lost son? Not at all! His love for his son was greater than that!
Boys and girls, when we come to the Lord Jesus to have our sins forgiven, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). This is what it means to be saved from a lost eternity in hell, without hope and without God. Not only will you be happy, but so will all the holy angels in heaven! Listen to the wonderful words of Jesus: “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10). Have you repented of your sins?
MEMORY VERSE: “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10
ML-07/01/2018