Bonnie Gilstead walked into the sheriff’s department at the county courthouse and handed the sheriff a thousand-dollar check. The sheriff got a puzzled look on his face and asked, “What is this for?”
“I feel like I just wanted to say thank you for saving my dog,” she answered with a smile.
“Mrs. Gilstead, we just don’t get many people coming in here to say ‘Thank you,’ much less a thank-you with a thousand-dollar check! This money will sure come in handy to buy some new equipment for the Search and Rescue Department, so on their behalf I’ll accept it.”
The day before, Mrs. Gilstead’s small dog had been spotted clinging to a narrow ledge on the face of a cliff. If the dog had made one wrong move, it would have fallen seventy-five feet to its death on the beach below. How the dog managed to get to the ledge, twenty-five feet down from the top of the cliff, is anybody’s guess. The dog barely had a foothold on the narrow ledge, which was only large enough for a sea gull to land on. Good thing it hadn’t been spotted by an eagle flying along the waterfront or the dog might have turned into an eagle dinner! As soon as Mrs. Gilstead learned her dog was trapped on the high cliff, she quickly contacted the sheriff’s office and asked for help.
Mrs. Gilstead knew right away this was a problem she couldn’t solve by herself. You and I also have a very serious problem that we can’t solve by ourselves—it is called SIN. God warns us, “The soul that [sins], it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:44Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)). There is only one person that can solve our serious sin problem. His name is Jesus, and He came from heaven to be our Saviour and save us from our sins. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)). Accepting Him as our personal Saviour is the only way out of this sin problem. Anyone can call to Him right now.
Mrs. Gilstead’s problem was quickly handled by two Search and Rescue workers who were sent to the cliff to see what they could do. The young men worked for the county as volunteers, and they decided what they would do. Using ropes, one of the men rappelled down the cliff to the dog, grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, and put it in a bag tied to his waist. Then he continued to rappel down to the base of the cliff, carrying the dog to safety.
Mrs. Gilstead was so grateful for her dog’s rescue that she wanted to show her appreciation in a special way—the thousand-dollar check.
Jesus Christ is the Saviour that each sinner so desperately needs. He loves you and is offering to rescue you from your sins today, before it’s too late. Mrs. Gilstead couldn’t wait another day for her dog’s rescue. It would have been too dangerous to wait any longer. And for a sinner to wait for some other time to be rescued from his sins is far more dangerous! “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:11Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)). No one knows what tomorrow may bring. And leaving this world still in your sins is tragic! You will face eternal punishment for them.
If you realize what you are facing for your sins, don’t wait another minute before you call to Jesus for rescue. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)).
If you have already called to Jesus to have your sins forgiven, have you thanked Him for the most wonderful rescue of all time?
ML-05/05/2013