Almost Gone!

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
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Each week we collected children from various homes to bring to Sunday School in our car. Once, knowing we were going to be extra busy, we asked Jimmy Brown if he would please pick some up for us. He was willing to help, and could be counted on to be punctual.
Jimmy was better than punctual! He arrived at the first stop one half hour earlier than our regular time! But David was nowhere to be found. His mother explained that he had been there just a few minutes ago, and she called, "David! David!"
There was no answer, though she called both outside and in the house. She opened the cellar door and called again. Still no response! In sudden panic she hurried down the steps, and there was David hanging by his neck from the ceiling, almost strangled by the rope around his neck. His face was blue, and he was unconscious.
They made a quick call to the emergency squad, and the responding ambulance team worked on resuscitation as they rushed him to the hospital. God spared David's life and the next week he was at Sunday School.
We learned that David had seen a stunt man on television tie a rope to the bough of a tree and around himself as he swung from branch to branch. Attempting to imitate what he saw, David tied the rope securely to the ceiling and jumped off the cellar steps to swing to a new perch. The rope caught about his throat and almost ended his life.
We asked him where he would be now had Jimmy Brown not come early, and he said he didn't know. His teacher in Sunday School urged him to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, giving him that precious verse in John 6:37 in which the Lord Jesus says: "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
Time passed... and David, like other young men, took to the wide open spaces on his own motorcycle. One day, in an instant, his thrill of speed and personal control came to an abrupt end. He was thrown from his bike, leaving time for eternity.
We surely hope that David had accepted Christ Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Someone told us that he had, but our trust is in the Word of God: "The Lord knoweth them that are His." May we say to you, dear friend, don't leave your family and friends in doubt as to your eternal destiny. Trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior now — today — and let others know by your words and your life that you belong to the Lord.
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. 10:9.