Every winter the Rideau River near our house in Canada freezes all the way across. The ice is often a foot thick and strong enough that a truck can drive over it. This thick ice often causes problems in the spring. If there is a warm rain that melts the snow quickly, the water flows on top of the ice as well as underneath. This sometimes causes flooding in the homes that are near the river. The city workmen often have to blast the ice with dynamite so that it will break into pieces and float down the river.
Several years ago, workers were out in boats doing this job. The water was about two feet deep on top of the foot-thick ice. One workman put dynamite in a hole in the ice and quickly moved his boat away. But somehow his boat overturned and he ended up in the icy water.
The man climbed on top of the upside-down boat which was now being carried rapidly down the river towards the Rideau Falls. Another workman saw the poor man’s dangerous situation and called the fire department.
The fire department raced to a bridge that crosses the river just above the falls. They quickly lowered a rope for the man to grab as he floated underneath.
Sad to say, the man did not grab the rope, and just before the boat went over the rushing falls, the firemen holding the rope heard him cry out, “I’m frozen to the boat!” The poor man could not do one thing to help himself. If only the firemen had lowered a man on the rope to grab him before it was too late!
Boys and girls, if you have never had your sins washed away in the precious blood of Christ, then you are in far greater danger than the man on the boat. The Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)). The poor man whose hands were frozen to the boat could not save himself, and there is nothing you can do to save yourself, either.
It was too late when the firemen realized that what the man needed was not a rope for him to grab, but a person to save him. But the good news is that there is a Person who is able and willing to save you from the judgment your sins will bring. That Person is God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus. He came into the world and went to the cross of Calvary to suffer and die for the sins of any who would believe on Him. He rose from the dead the third day, and now the Savior we are telling you about is alive again and in heaven. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)).
Messages of God’s Love 10/1/2023