A loud-mouthed fellow-traveler was boasting of having survived two severe earthquakes in a western state. He said that in the first and most serious one his hotel had swayed back and forth. He had been thrown violently from his bed onto a chest of drawers that had fallen flat on the floor. It and the other furniture had knocked him about pretty badly.
The fright and excitement had brought on an acute heart attack, from which he still suffered. He added that that day the number of guests in the dining room of the hotel fell from about two hundred and fifty to less than ten. At least fifteen thousand tourists had immediately fled from the city.
Some years later he had gone through another but much less severe earthquake. In it comparatively few were killed, and damage was not so widespread. Yet it, like the first, was a scary experience.
I asked, “How would it have been with your soul if, instead of your falling on top of that chest, it had fallen on you and caused your death?”
“Oh,” said he, “I hope I would have been all right! I’ve been a good, moral man all my life, and I do much charitable work in my hometown. Besides, I try to be useful wherever I am.”
I asked him, “Did you ever read the account of the earthquake at Philippi? It roused the jailer out of his sleep and freed the prisoners from their bonds. The jailer was so frightened he cried out to Paul and Silas, whom he had so brutally beaten earlier that night: ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’
“He believed in God, with all his house, and they were saved.”
“I do remember,” said the traveler, “but that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?”
“True,” I answered, “but notice two things: The earthquake had the effect God desired, and one earthquake was enough to arouse the man to his need of being saved. Evidently, sir, you will require more than two earthquakes to accomplish the same blessing for your soul.”
He looked very serious as he responded: “No doubt you are right. I do get the feeling sometimes that God is speaking to me. I am on my way now to consult a heart specialist.”
“Why not come to the Great Physician?” I asked. “He can heal your immortal soul and ease the burden of sin from your heart. With Him as your Savior and Lord and cleansed from all guilt by His own precious blood, you would be able to face and endure the ‘earthquakes’ of this life and all its uncertainties. Won’t you receive Him now?”
We had stopped, the doors were opened, and in the scramble to gather up luggage and personal effects I had only time to give him one more bit of Scripture: “Hear Him pleading, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)),” and then others pushed between us. The result must be left for God’s great reckoning to disclose.
How is it with you? Is your never-dying soul saved through believing on Him “who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:2525Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25))? Or are you waiting till God must send a special earthquake to make you realize your need of Him?