Leo the golden retriever reigned over his family with perfect happiness and playfulness. He was three years old and because of a happy temperament he had enjoyed every minute of his life. He lived with his master and his wife in a comfortable home. Just being with them made him beam with love. Looking at Leo, you would have thought, “Here is about the happiest dog I have ever met.”
One winter afternoon Leo’s owners took him for a walk along the rugged coast of the Pacific Ocean near Cannon Beach in Oregon. Leo was so happy he could barely contain himself. The couple and their dog walked from the parking lot to the trail that ran along the high bank above the beach. The cliff they were walking on was about 300 feet tall. The side of the cliff was nearly vertical. It was strewn with rocks and boulders. Here and there an occasional tree could be seen stunted and sculpted by the winds which continually battered them.
When the couple saw that no one else was walking near the trail, they slipped the collar off Leo’s neck and let the dog run free. Leo found a broken branch lying on the ground and brought it to his master for a game of fetch. They walked along the top of the cliff playing fetch until a disaster happened.
Leo got too close to the edge of the 300-foot cliff. For an instant, the very athletic dog didn’t pay attention to where he was stepping. He stumbled and fell off the high bank. Leo’s feet clawed at the high bank. It slowed him a little, but he couldn’t get enough hold to stop. Halfway down his shoulder hit the sharp edge of a boulder and tore off a patch of skin and fur the size of a hand. He yelped in pain. Branches of shrubs struck his face. He did a somersault through the air and then “BAM” — his body slammed onto the pebbly beach below.
Tension
Shocked, his owners peered over the edge of the cliff and saw their dog sprawled out on the beach far below. At first, with hearts breaking, they thought he was dead. Then they saw him raise his head and try to struggle to get to his feet, only to fall back to the ground in pain. They called out to him, “Leo, Leo, we’re coming.”
However, climbing down the high bank was impossible. It was too steep. They looked up and down the trail to see if there was a way to the beach. Both to the north and the south, this part of the beach was cut off by rocky headlands that jutted out into the ocean. At low tide, beachgoers could walk around these headlands, but the tide was high and the beach at these points was now impassable. What was worse, the tide was coming in. It was getting closer to where Leo lay helpless at the base of the cliff. If they didn’t do something soon, the tide would wash right over their injured pet.
They got on their cell phone and called the local sheriff. At first the sheriff thought Leo was a boy who had fallen off the cliff, then he realized Leo was a dog. The sheriff didn’t have any way to get down to the beach, but he knew someone that did.
His call went through to the Coast Guard Station. They responded immediately. They didn’t send a rescue boat. A boat in the pounding surf would have been useless. They sent a rescue helicopter to the scene. In minutes the three-man crew had the engine started and the giant rotors twirling and took off from the base. The orange and white helicopter flew directly to the scene and hovered over the site. The tide was high on the beach. The downdraft from the rotors flattened out the waves beneath it, making a giant pancake shape on the surface of the water.
Hovering about 100 feet above the waves, a rescue swimmer in a thick wetsuit was let down into the water in a basket. He made his way through the waist-deep surf. The undertow of the receding waves grabbed at him as he waded through the water. He made it to dry land. Ever so slowly he walked up to Leo who lay injured on the ground. Leo turned his head to look at him. He talked softly to him to calm him. He ran his gloved hand over the dog’s side. He saw a deep cut on the side of the dog’s head and the patch of fur missing on his shoulder. He also discovered one of the dog’s legs was broken.
Between Life and Death
From the time the helicopter arrived to the time when the rescue worker walked through the water to the beach, the tide had climbed higher on the sloping beach. It might have only been a matter of minutes until it reached the dog.
Gently he lifted the dog and placed it in the steel basket. Expertly he strapped it in so the dog couldn’t wiggle free. Then he carried the dog and basket out into the pounding surf. He signaled the airman looking down from the open side of the copter. Slowly, he winched the dog up from the surf and into the helicopter. In a few minutes, the basket was lowered again and the rescue swimmer was hoisted through the air. It was a perfectly executed rescue. The helicopter flew back to the nearby base.
Leo’s owners picked up their injured dog and drove him to the nearest veterinarian, which was an hour away. It seemed like it took forever to get there. The vet sedated the dog, set the broken bone, sewed up the gash and checked for internal injuries. Leo needed a lot of medical attention. But in the end, the vet predicted he would recover fully and be his happy self again. I’m sure Leo will be much more careful next time when walking the cliffs. I suppose his owners will think twice before they take him off the leash when dangers are near.
Leo was much loved. He was rescued from above by a hovering helicopter. His rescue, which involved expensive equipment and extensively trained men, was very costly.
Do you know all these things apply to us also? Each one of us is loved very much. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). He loves us so much that if we were the only person in the world who needed it, He still would have sent His Son to give His life just for us.
Sinners, too, if they are ever going to be rescued, will be rescued from above. The Lord Jesus came from heaven down to earth. He came down from heaven so that He might bring us back up to heaven to be with Him forever. He gave His life at Calvary. He was buried, rose from the grave, showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs, and then ascended back to heaven in the sight of His disciples in a cloud. In heaven He took His seat at the Father’s right hand. If people will be saved, they will be saved by the heaven-sent Savior. Once they believe, they may come to the throne of grace and receive help for their journey home. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:1616Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)).
It cost God a tremendous price to redeem us. To redeem means to buy back and set free. To redeem people cost the life of the Lord Jesus on the cross. We were in such desperate straits as sinners that only the blood of Jesus could ever set us free. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)). A sinner who believes in the Savior has their sins washed away. They are forgiven and suitable for heaven. They are saved by the great work the Lord Jesus did on the cross.
Seeing that God loves you so much and has done so much for you at such a cost to Himself, won’t you believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved?