The sky was dark and stormy-looking when a man set out on a snowmobile to go to the next town in Switzerland where he lived. Soon after he started it began to snow, and then it turned into a real blizzard. The snow fell so heavily that it quickly covered the road in front of him.
It’s too late now to turn back, thought the man as he continued pushing ahead. What worried him more was the area through which he was traveling was known to have avalanches. The snow continued to fall fast and heavily.
He had only gone a little farther when he heard the roar — the unmistakable sound of an avalanche! Before he could do a thing he was engulfed in a swirling, rushing mountain of snow. It knocked him unconscious and he was soon buried in three feet of snow and ice.
When he did not arrive at his destination, a search party was organized. Accompanying them in their search was a specially trained dog who could detect by smell a person buried in the snow. For some time they searched the mountain roads without success.
Then the dog, unnoticed by the rest of the party, turned off the path and wandered off a little distance by himself. Suddenly he stopped and with his nose deep in the snow he sniffed. Then he began to dig down into the snow with his paws.
Down under the drifts the man, now conscious, became aware of something digging down through the snow toward him. What could it be? Perhaps some wild, hungry animal hunting for its dinner had discovered him. He must act quickly to save himself, he thought. With difficulty he drew his pistol from its holster, and pointing it upward at the dark form above him, he pulled the trigger. There was a loud shot, a yelp of pain, a dull thud as the animal fell, and then all was still.
The search party heard the shot and hurried to the spot. There they found the dog lying dead on the snow. The half-frozen man under the snow heard voices. He was soon pulled to safety and lived to tell the story of his rescue.
How sorry that man must have been when he saw the dog lying dead on the snow. It had been killed in the very act of rescuing him from certain death.
The dog has been often called man’s best friend. And yet man, who is a sinner, has a better Friend still. “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Prov. 18:2424A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24). Jesus the Saviour of sinners is the best Friend of all. He has done for us what neither man nor creature could ever do. He knew that we were hopelessly lost in our sins, and He came to seek and to save us. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10).
On the cross of Calvary He bore God’s punishment for sin, and He gave His life so that sinners could be brought back to God and safely home to heaven. He came from heaven into this world to save sinful men, and men killed Him. Yet God turned this terrible act into the means of man’s salvation, for God now offers pardon to all who will believe in Jesus as their Saviour through the blood Jesus shed there. Won’t you accept Him right now as your Saviour?
ML-09/11/1988