It was actually her daughter’s dog that was doing all the barking. His name was Berkley, and she was taking care of him for her daughter. Berkley was a very small dog, a Pomeranian, but he sure had a loud bark for his small size. It’s a good thing he did.
It was early morning. Mrs. Carson was sound asleep and completely unaware that her upstairs apartment had caught fire and was filling with smoke. However, Berkley sensed that something was very wrong and began barking and barking.
Mrs. Carson slowly awakened and tried to shush Berkley, but he kept barking. When she tried a little harder to shush him, he bit her nose! She was wide awake then and suddenly realized that her apartment was filling with smoke! She remembered right away the danger of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
This little story is intended to be a “Barking Berkley” to wake you up to the danger of your sins. For many people, that’s just like Mrs. Carson sleeping soundly while her apartment was on fire. The Bible tells us that no one can go to heaven if they are still in their sins. God will not permit even one sin to enter His home in heaven. But because He loves you and me very much, He and His Son Jesus made a plan so any sinner can be saved from his or her sins. But before we tell you about that wonderful plan, let’s find out if Mrs. Carson and Berkley were saved from the burning apartment.
She quickly called the fire department, and they were there minutes later to get the fire under control. Mrs. Carson, carrying Berkley, were both able to get out of the apartment safely, even before the fire truck got there. She said later, “If it wasn’t for Berkley’s barking, in a couple of minutes we would not have been able to get out of the bedroom.”
Yes, Mrs. Carson was very thankful she had “Barking Berkley” staying with her in the apartment. She might even have been thankful that he bit her nose to wake her up in time. And we want to wake you up in time to be saved from your sins.
Many of you have heard or read in the Bible about God sending His Son Jesus to die on a cross where He shed His blood to wash away our sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). He was willing to die for you and me because He loves us so much and wants us to spend eternity with Him in His home in heaven. All that you have to do is tell Jesus that you know you are a sinner and want Him to wash you clean from every sin. He will not only wash every sin away, but He also promises, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:1212For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12)).
ML-02/15/2015