One of the best memories from my boyhood was the building of a new highway near our house. This was many years ago, long before anyone thought of super highways like the Interstate highway system we have today. It was also before heavy, road-building equipment was made, such as bulldozers and large earth movers. Because there were more and more cars on the roads, there was a need for a coast-to-coast highway across the United States. This was the highway that was being built near our house.
You may wonder how all the dirt was moved in building a highway back then. I’ll tell you. They used a horse-drawn scoop called a fresno. This heavy, metal tool looked like a huge shovel with high sides and was pulled by a team of two or more horses or mules. Handles, much like those on a wheel barrow, were attached to its sides. A man walked behind, tilting the scoop up just enough so it would dig out dirt and fill the fresno. Once it was full, the operator would lower the handles so the scoop would slide along the ground without picking up more dirt. The team driver, called a “mule skinner,” would direct the team of horses to where the dirt was needed and then quickly pick up on the handles to dump that load and go back for more. Can you imagine how slowly road building went in those days?
But what I was most interested in was seeing the strength and beauty of those big workhorses, rather than the actual road being built. I loved to watch those beautiful, strong horses moving great loads of dirt. It was amazing how they could work hour after hour all day long, moving such heavy loads. The company who owned those hard-working horses took very good care of them. They were valuable horses!
The Bible tells us of people who are more interested in the value and beauty of what they have and see, rather than in what is really important—their eternal salvation. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” This includes everyone and makes having our sins washed away far more important than the enjoyment of what we have or what we do. Those were valuable horses, but your soul is even more valuable to the Lord Jesus who died to save your soul.
We had to wait a long time for the highway to be completed, but you do not have to wait to settle the important matter of accepting the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. Boys and girls, the way is open right now for you to come to Him to receive the full forgiveness for all your sins. On the cross the Lord Jesus said, “It is finished.” This means that he did EVERYTHING God required to remove every single one of your sins. He took the punishment in His own body on the cross for the sins of everyone who would accept Him as Saviour. He is saying to you, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He also says, “Him that [comes] to Me, I will in no [way] cast out” (John 6:37).
Will you settle the matter of your sins right now? Jesus loves you so very much, and He is waiting right now to remove your sins forever. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
MEMORY VERSE: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
ML-09/25/2016