Our town was buzzing with excitement. In just a few months the town would be celebrating its 150th birthday, and everybody was busy making preparation for the great day. Mr. Schmidt and his two helpers had volunteered to sandblast and paint all the old buildings on the main street if the local merchants would supply the paint. How much nicer Main Street would look! Some of the buildings hadn't been painted for forty years.
My husband, a volunteer for the local ambulance corps, and his boss were doing a roofing job just one block from where Mr. Schmidt was to start his sandblasting. Suddenly, my husband's beeper went off. There was an emergency just up the street, and as he ran to get the ambulance he saw someone fall to the concrete below. It was at Mr. Schmidt's work site!
Mr. Schmidt had called the utility company to come and disconnect the high-voltage wires that were close to the building and they had promised to be there shortly. But he was in a hurry, and decided to start before they arrived. As a crowd of people gathered down below on the sidewalk, Mr. Schmidt and Jason, his helper, were lifted in the basket of the cherry picker. They had barely started work when the basket swayed into those hot wires, knocking both men to the floor of the basket.
John, the second helper, was down below and he realized that something had happened. He tried to tell Jason how to get the basket lowered, but Jason was too upset to help. So John thought he had no choice but to climb up and help them. As he went up, he knocked the basket back into the hot wires and was thrown twenty feet to the sidewalk below.
A few minutes later the crew from the electric company arrived to disconnect the wires, only to find that Mr. Schmidt was already dead. John, severely injured in the fall, was taken to the hospital. Jason had only burns, but their employer had passed into eternity.
As my husband told me about the accident, I thought of so many things. Mr. Schmidt had been in the sandblasting business for eighteen years. He knew not to start work until the hot wires were disconnected, but he was in a hurry—no time to waste. His carelessness cost him his life.
I thought of Jason, so close to Mr. Schmidt, unable to help him. And the people below? All helpless.
And John, watching from below and trying to get to the basket to bring them down. He meant well, he wanted to help, but in his efforts he was hurt himself and caused the basket to hit the wires a second time.
I wonder if there is a reader who is like Mr. Schmidt, going on in such a hurry he can take no thought for the future. Or perhaps like John, full of good will to others and anxious to help, but good intentions did not get the basket down either.
No, only the power company could have made it safe for the men to work, and that brings us to the point: there is One—only One—who has the power and wisdom to make life safe for you—safe for time and eternity. That One is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Make sure of that salvation now, today, and be prepared for whatever your future holds.