“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 that looks like.”
Miss Lozano took out 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 take place right in front of their eyes.
First, Miss Lozano put the paper towel in the pie plate. Next, she lit 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.
However, there were air conditioning vents in the school, and the smoke from the burned paper towel soon traveled through the vents to the principal’s office. That smells like smoke! the principal thought. There were 875 students in the school, including 99 pre-kindergarten students. These children were only four years old, and it was their first year to be at school. The school hadn’t had a practice fire drill yet, so the pre-kindergarten children wouldn’t know what to do during a
fire drill.
The principal had a decision to make. Should he take the time to go around the school to look for a fire? He knew that in most fires even one breath of smoke can kill a person if there are poisonous gases from a carpet burning. If he rang the fire alarm for the children to go outside, 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.
Quickly, the students filed outside, and almost as quickly they heard sirens wailing as the big fire trucks pulled up to the school. They had brought a big pump truck with over 500 gallons of water to use right away until they could connect to the fire hydrant outside the school. Six firemen searched the school wearing hats, boots, flameproof coats and air tanks for breathing. What they found were a few ashes in a tin pie plate in Miss Lozano’s class.
Once the students were allowed back into their classrooms, the firemen in their flameproof coats and boots came into Miss Lozano’s class. She was a little embarrassed as she 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. Then the teacher laughed, 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 all the students in the school including the children who had never had a fire drill. He wasn’t about to take a chance, and no one found fault with him for that.
How about you? You also have been told that there is a fire coming for those who have not taken Jesus as their Savior. And it’s not a tiny fire in a tin plate. It’s the lake of fire called 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 that never-ending fire. Have you made the wise decision to accept God’s offer of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? All you need to do is accept that wonderful gift by believing in what the Lord Jesus did for you at the cross. “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)).
Messages of God’s Love 12/26/2021