Jim and Sara stopped in a little town for a late supper with their little girl, Alisha. They were on their way home after a visit to Canada. “Let’s take a little walk and stretch our legs before we get back in the car!” suggested Jim. He lifted Alisha onto his shoulders as they left the restaurant and they headed down the street to cross a bridge into a neighboring village.
Alisha was nice and warm in her snowsuit as she sat on her daddy’s shoulders. The February sky was clear, but the night air was moist. This made the frozen sidewalks a bit slippery.
Jeff, a truck driver, was driving toward the bridge when he saw a terrifying scene just as it happened. He saw a man and a woman walking across the bridge with a small child on the man’s shoulders. Suddenly the man slipped, and the child tumbled over the railing.
In seconds, Jeff stopped his truck close by and ran to the horrified parents. Below them hung Alisha, caught by the hood of her snowsuit on a beam that stuck out from the bridge. Beneath her they could see the swirling waters of the river through a crack in the ice.
“Save my baby! Save my baby!” Sara screamed.
Jeff rushed to his truck and returned with a rope. Using skills he had learned while working as a tree trimmer, he tied the rope to the railing with a couple of quick knots. Then, tying the other end of the rope around his waist, he climbed over the railing.
As he lowered himself down the rope, he could hear Alisha crying hysterically. Jeff struggled to get to her. Then he quickly slipped off his belt and tied it around her so he could hold her better. Holding her closely by the belt and using every ounce of his strength, he began to climb up the rope to the bridge.
Just as he reached the top of the rope and lifted Alisha up to her anxious parents, Jeff felt a terrible pain in his side. He managed to climb to safety, but the strain of rescuing Alisha had caused damage to his body. Later Jeff had to have an operation to repair the damage to his side.
How thankful Jim and Sara were that Jeff had saved their daughter’s life! She had come through that awful fall without getting even a scratch.
Alisha was in a terrifying place when Jeff came along and saved her from falling into that icy water. Why would Jeff, a stranger, risk his own life to help someone he had never met before? It must have been that there was love in his heart.
This story reminds me of a story the Lord Jesus told in the Bible about a shepherd who had one sheep that went away and got lost. The shepherd left the rest of his 99 sheep to go into the mountains and look for that one lost sheep, and the Lord said, “If so be that he find it ... he [rejoices] more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray” (see Matthew 18:12-1312How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. (Matthew 18:12‑13)). Jeff cared enough to go after Alisha. Did you know the Lord Jesus cares enough about you that He is looking for you? Jesus cared so much about you that He came to die in order to be able to save you, and now He is looking for you. This verse is a little sad, because it says, “If so be that he find it.” That means that it doesn’t always happen.
The story says the shepherd would have more joy in finding that one lost sheep than in the 99 who didn’t wander away. This shows how much the Lord Jesus loves each one of you children, even if you have done many bad things and feel like He can’t love you. Jesus ended this story by saying, “It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:1414Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:14)). God the Father wants every one of you children to be saved.
Messages of God’s Love 6/2/2024