A friend of mine was awakened in the middle of the night by the cry of “FIRE!” Running to the window, he saw that it was the house across the street. He quickly dressed and ran out to help.
He found that all the people who lived in the house had gotten out safely, except for one little girl. She was still asleep in her bedroom on the second floor. The mother was panic-stricken, not knowing what to do.
My friend decided to try to save her, even though flames and smoke were pouring from the house. He rushed up the burning steps to the second floor, through the heat and smoke.
The child was still sleeping and did not know she was in any danger. My friend quickly picked her up, wrapped her in a blanket, then made a dash down the stairs. About five minutes after he handed the little girl to her mother, the roof fell in with a crash! She was saved just in time!
Although the little girl was not hurt, my friend suffered much to save her. The fire burned his arm and hand badly, leaving one of his fingers permanently scarred and twisted because of the burns. Whenever I shake hands with him, the twisted finger seems to whisper over again the story of the house on fire.
Perhaps you, like that little girl, do not realize that you are in danger! You are sleeping on in sin, not thinking that at any moment you might die, and your soul would be lost forever. Listen now to the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” He let cruel men who hated Him nail Him to a cross, hammering nails through His hands and feet. He suffered and died on that cross, because He loves you and me. One of those men thrust a spear into His side, and blood and water flowed out. God tells us this blood from the Lord Jesus can wash away sins, yours and mine, if we will just ask Him. (This is called being “saved.") When those of us who are saved are in heaven with the Lord Jesus, we will see the nail marks in His hands and feet and the spear mark in His side from His suffering on the cross for us. They will always remind us of how much He loved us and what He went through to save us.
ML-02/27/1983