People that experienced the devastating storms and tornadoes that swept through western Kentucky on December 10-11, 2021, won’t soon forget them. High winds, up to 190 mph, spawned no less than 66 tornadoes. The deadliest tornado of them all cut a path 165.7 miles long and over a mile wide! It set a record for the fiercest and deadliest tornado in Kentucky’s history.
The tornado destroyed over 1,000 homes and took at least 80 lives. The hardest hit area was in the town of Mayfield in Graves County. When the EF-4 tornado raced through the town of 10,000 people, it damaged or destroyed more than 60 businesses. Dr. Wes Mills’ dental business was reduced to rubble. Incredible surveillance footage of the FNB Bank shows the front doors and windows being blown out in the blink of an eye, which turned into projectiles, destroying everything in their path. One of the town’s largest employers, the MCP candle factory, was destroyed. Over 100 people were working inside when the tornado hit, causing the building to collapse. Eight people were killed.
MARCO’S CHOICES
Marco Sanchez, an inmate, happened to be on work detail that night. When the building collapsed, it soon became engulfed in flames, trapping him. Though he had a broken leg and several cracked ribs, he managed to work himself free and escape the building. Then he made a series of decisions, the first being to find some tools and help several others get free of the debris, too.
After he had helped as many people out as he could, he got a ride to the hospital with a firefighter to get treatment for his injuries. Then he made another decision. Seeing a state trooper in the hospital, he tried to turn himself in. But the trooper, overwhelmed with the tornado response, simply told Marco to “do the right thing.”
Then he found out that the jail had been destroyed by the tornado, so he contacted prison staff himself! He had had many chances on that terrible, chaotic night to just disappear, but he chose not to. The Graves County Sheriff’s Office, upon researching rumors on Facebook that an inmate had saved many lives and finding it to be true, awarded him the Sheriff’s Meritorious Award! Many people praised and lauded him for what he had done that night. The Sheriff’s Office said that he had made many good decisions that night and that people should help Marco find work and a place to live after his release in early March. Many donations poured in as people admired and praised him for his heroism and selfless behavior that night.
Released in March, and over a month later in early April, the local media eagerly reported on how Marco was doing. He was working as a handyman for a local nonprofit organization. He was very eager to show reporters the work that he was doing and the tiny home that he was working on for himself, which he was going to name “spark of hope.” He enthusiastically said, “It feels great with some sense of responsibility and trust. It just feels great.” He went on to say that when someone says the right words and the right things, it inspires you to do good, and that he was doing “really good.”
But ... things weren’t as wonderful and promising as they seemed to be with Marco. All the praise, good wishes and helping hands couldn’t keep him from giving in to a hidden problem that he had. In one short paragraph, the local news, WPSDLOCAL6, reported on May 5 that he had been arrested again. He was arrested on charges of first-degree possession of methamphetamine on the second offense and buying or possessing drug paraphernalia. Though he had made many good decisions on December 10, those good deeds could not keep him from falling again.
TRULY PURE
Just as Marco was unable to keep himself from breaking the law again, so it is with the sinner before a righteous and holy God. The good decisions that Marco had made and the good deeds that many believe will get them into heaven cannot and will not save a soul in the end. If you were 99.99% good, just one sin would be enough to keep you out of heaven! Why? The Bible tells us God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity [sin, wickedness]” (Habakkuk 1:1313Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13)).
Not only is God pure and holy, but our sins are defiling and filthy. God says about us in His Word, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)). God knows our helpless, hopeless state, and because He loves us and is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), He has made a way of salvation for each one of us. He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die and shed His blood on the cross for our sins. Jesus has paid our sin-debt for us. God has accepted His sacrifice because Jesus was holy, sinless and pure. Now all we need to do is accept it and believe it in faith. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5)). “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9)). There will be no boasting in heaven about our good works and how they got us there — only praise and worship to the Lamb of God for redeeming us from our sins through His mercy and grace by faith in Him alone!
Did Christian Leonhardt make the right decision in calling for help? Decide after reading Lost in the Woods.