Six-year-old Tommy was excited to be going camping with his family. The campground they went to was in a desert-like area with lots of sand, sagebrush and desert flowers. But the campground loop was at the edge of a river, and that promised to be lots of fun. Mountains could be seen in the distance.
The family pitched their tent and then sat around a campfire until it was dark. When they climbed into their tent and tried to go to sleep, Tommy was so excited that he couldn’t help bouncing around on top of his sleeping bag. Tommy’s dad made him get inside his sleeping bag and zipped it up good and tight. Finally, they all fell asleep.
Tommy got up early the next morning. It is hard to sleep late in a tent with the sunlight filtering in. He sat down at the picnic table while his dad got him a bowl of cereal. Tommy thought of all the fun things he could do. He could ride his bike around the campground, go fishing, swim or just explore. He could hardly wait to get busy. While he was eating his cereal, he saw something on the ground at the edge of the campsite. It was three or four feet long, dull brown and skinny. He went over to investigate.
The long skinny thing didn’t move but stayed perfectly still. It looked exactly like a toy rubber snake he had at home. He looked at the eyes. They stared forward without blinking. There was a beautiful pattern on the snake’s back. It never crossed Tommy’s mind that it could be anything but a toy.
“Look, Dad, at the toy I found,” he said as he bent over and picked it up.
“TOMMY! NO! DROP IT!” his dad shouted, but it was too late. The snake, which was limp at first, suddenly grew tense in Tommy’s hands and whipped around, sinking its fangs deep into the boy’s forearm!
“OOOW!” Tommy screamed in pain. The snake dropped out of his hands. His dad ran to him and gathered him up in his arms. The bite marks were bright red. Almost instantly Tommy’s arm started to swell. Snake bites can be fatal if not treated quickly. Thankfully, there was a hospital in a nearby town. Tommy’s dad knew exactly where it was and drove very fast to get there. He didn’t waste a minute!
The doctor frowned when he saw the bite. He quickly gave Tommy the necessary antivenin to treat the effects of the snake’s poison. Then they put Tommy, who was very sick, in a bed. After three days in the hospital, doctors said Tommy was well enough to go home.
You may think Tommy made a very silly mistake, thinking the rattlesnake was a toy, and that you would never do anything like that. But is this really the case? Take a moment and think about it. Sin has a deadly bite, even more deadly than a rattlesnake. Listen carefully to what God’s Word says: “The wages of sin is death” (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)); “the sting of death is sin” (1 Corinthians 15:5656The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)); “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:44Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)). Have you treated sin like it is harmless? Sin is not a plaything that a person can pick up and put down again without doing great harm to themselves. The terrible fact about sin is that it separates us from God, because God hates sin. It separates us from Him in this life, and it will separate us from Him for all eternity. When a person sins, it is as if a poisonous snake has bitten him. There is no way to get rid of that poison except by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ to be cleansed from all sin.
The Lord Jesus knew the deadly trouble we have gotten into because of our sins. He came to this earth to die in the sinner’s place, because He loves us so very much. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:33For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; (1 Corinthians 15:3)). When we truly place our faith in Him, He washes our sins away and gives us a new life that makes it possible to live for God. There is no other way to be saved but through faith in Christ.
Tommy’s dad knew he had to get the proper treatment for his son or he might die. He never would have thought, I’ll just put a Band-Aid on it and that will take care of it. No, he made sure he got the right treatment for his son. Won’t you realize that as a sinner you need the Saviour, and nothing else will do? Don’t waste another day thinking sin is harmless when, in truth, it is the deadliest poison ever known! “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
Rosa was a young girl of about eight years old when she first heard that the Lord Jesus loved her and wanted to be her Saviour. For many nights she had prayed and cried and wondered how she could be saved from her sins. Then one day she told God that she was sorry about her sins and asked Him to make her heart clean with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Rosa was so happy! She told her parents, brother, aunts and cousins about her Saviour, and some of them came to know and love Him too.
But several years later Rosa got to worrying. As we sat talking one day she said, “Sometimes I ask God to forgive me. I ask and ask and ask, but I don’t feel forgiven. Isn’t there something more I can do?”
I told Rosa, “No there isn’t. Jesus paid the whole price for your sins when He died on the cross. He rose from the grave and is now in heaven, and there is nothing for you to do. Just trust Him. How you feel has nothing to do with your forgiveness. You will always be forgiven.”
I had Rosa take a red pencil and underline some words in her Bible. One of them was 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): “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.” Notice that it doesn’t say “might have eternal life” or “probably will not come into condemnation” or “might pass from death into life”!
I think these words helped Rosa, and I hope they will help you if you are wondering if you are really forgiven. Why not look in your Bible for some more “for sure” words. Look in 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), Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31) and Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9) for starters.
ML-11/19/2006