It had been a long, hot day for the crew installing pipe for a new sewer main. (A sewer main connects the plumbing inside your house to the city plumbing.) They had worked hard and connected many lengths of pipe. The crew needed to connect just two more pipes and then they could leave for the night.
Johnny had been doing this job for many years, so this was a normal day for him. However, as the day progressed, the trench needed to be dug deeper and deeper to get the right slope for the pipe. Johnny was a little worried about how well the sides of the bank would hold.
Bill, the excavator operator, was good at spotting danger, so he was watching the walls of the trench closely as he was digging. As the hole grew deeper, he made the trench wider than normal to make sure it would not cave in. As he wiped the sweat from his brow and continued digging, a layer of dry sand appeared on the sides of the bank, which concerned him. Layers of sand within the wall of a trench can be very unstable, as any sudden movement can make the trench walls cave in, burying anyone inside.
The foreman, Bobby, had arranged to have the two pieces of pipe all ready, close to the excavator arm, so the crane wouldn’t have to move much and hopefully not shake the ground too much. As Bill carefully scraped away the bottom of the trench for those last two pieces of pipe to be set, everyone was watching that layer of dry sand. All of them knew that even a small shudder from the machine could destabilize that vein of sand and then the heavy layers of clay above the sand would cave in and crush Johnny to death.
But Bill was cautious and skilled, and he had dug the trench extra wide, so all the workers thought it was safe. Johnny was satisfied that he was ready for the new pipe, so he signaled the foreman with a thumbs up, giving him the go-ahead to connect the excavator to the pipe and have Bill lower the pipe into the trench.
Even though Bill was very careful, the excavator’s large, heavy body sent dangerous vibrations through the ground. Everyone watched in horror as the trench started caving in, sending many thousands of pounds of sand into the trench and quickly burying Johnny up to his chest.
Frantically, Johnny tried to escape, but he was no match for the falling sand. The sandy sides of the trench continued to buckle as the heavy clay above the sand also began to shift.
Bill, the crane operator, looked down into the trench and saw Johnny in this extremely dangerous situation. He knew exactly what to do to save him.
With great compassion in his heart, a clear head, and amazing skill, his large hands moved the levers just right to gently place the big, strong excavator bucket over the top of Johnny’s head. Seconds after he did this, hundreds of tons of clay collapsed onto the excavator bucket, burying it completely. Johnny was totally at the mercy of Bill and his big, strong crane.
The foreman radioed for a second excavator to move over to the trench. Many people gathered around to watch as the second excavator slowly removed the clay and sand from around the bucket sheltering Johnny. Finally, big cheers erupted as Bill raised the boom and the bucket that covered Johnny’s head lifted, revealing a smiling and thankful man.
Children, Johnny’s story is a picture of all of us. If you haven’t accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you are in danger like Johnny was — except that it is sin that is piling up around you and eternal death that is coming. Thankfully, God has provided a way for us to escape that death.
Just as Johnny couldn’t do anything to save himself, but Bill was willing and able to save him, so there is Someone who is willing and able to save each of us. God sent the Lord Jesus to die for our sins, so that He could save us from the judgment our sins will bring to us if they aren’t forgiven. The Bible tells us that “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)).
When Johnny was finally free, the same bucket that had saved him from being crushed lifted him up out of the hole and set him on firm ground. The Lord Jesus does this for us, too. He brings us into a whole new life. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” (Psalm 40:22He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalm 40:2)).
Johnny was thankful for Bill’s help. What if he had screamed at Bill to stop? Rejecting the help Bill and his crane bucket offered would have meant certain death for Johnny. How about you? Are you covered by the plan of salvation God offers you? “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)).
Messages of God’s Love 2/11/2024