“Today we are going to do a science experiment,” said Miss Lozano to her third-grade students. “We have been studying chemical change, and now I will show you what we mean.”
Miss Lozano took a small paper towel, a match and a tin pie plate. She had shown third-grade students this experiment for several years now, and the boys and girls always enjoyed watching a chemical change right in front of their eyes.
Miss Lozano put the paper towel in the pie plate. Then she struck the match and burned part of the paper towel. Then she showed the children how the fibers in the paper had turned to carbon. It was a perfect experiment for the science class.
There were, however, air conditioning vents in the school, and the smoke from the burned paper towel traveled through the vents to the office of the school. The principal began to notice the smell of the smoke. That smells like smoke! he thought. There were 875 students in the school, including 99 pre-kindergarten students. These little children were only four years old, and it was their first year to be at school. The school had not yet had a practice fire drill, and the pre-kindergarten children had not yet been taught what to do during a fire drill.
Now, the principal had a decision to make. Should he take the time to go around the school to look for a fire when the Fire Department had said that in most fires even one breath of smoke can kill a person if there are poisonous gases from a carpet burning? He could have rung the fire alarm for the children to go outside, but the pre-kindergarten children wouldn’t know what to do and they might panic.
The principal made a wise decision. He calmly announced over the loud speaker that all teachers should take their classes outside right away. Then he called the Fire Department.
In no time at all the students filed outside, and almost as quickly they heard the big fire trucks pull up to the school with their sirens wailing. They brought a big pump truck with over 500 gallons of water to use right away until they could hook up with the fire hydrant which was right outside the school. Six firemen searched the school wearing hats, boots, flameproof coats and air tanks for breathing. What they found was only a few ashes in a tin pie plate in Miss Lozano’s class!
Once the students were allowed back in the classroom, the firemen in their flameproof coats and boots came into Miss Lozano’s class. She was a little embarrassed but explained, “I’ve done this little experiment every year with my class and nothing has ever happened before!” The children thought they noticed just a slight smile on the teacher’s face and a few giggled. The teacher laughed too, and suddenly the class exploded with laughter -the sight of all that equipment and those big firemen for their tiny fire, so safe in a tin pie plate.
But no one thought the principal had made a mistake. He had to think of the 875 students in the school and of the 99 small children who had never had a fire drill. He wasn’t about to take chances, and no one found fault with him for that . . . not the firemen, nor the teachers, nor the children. He had made a wise decision when he knew there was a fire, however small it might have been.
How about you? You also have been told that there is a fire coming for those who have not taken Jesus as their Saviour. And it’s not a tiny fire in a tin plate. It’s the lake of fire in hell, and the Bible says it will never be put out. God has warned you about it now, because He loves you and wants to save you from the fire. Have you made a wise decision? Have you accepted God’s offer of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
There was a lot of equipment and preparation to escape the fire in the tin plate which was already put out before the principal called the Fire Department. Have you made any preparation to escape the fire that will never be put out? God is offering you salvation. All you need to do is accept His gift. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). “Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:1212Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. (Amos 4:12)). “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)).
The principal was wise in a small matter. Will you be wise in a much bigger one?
ML-04/21/1996