It was a beautiful, warm spring day, and Jeanne and several of her friends decided to take a hike to the top of Wallace Falls in northwestern Washington. It was a lovely place to hike with lots of evergreens and bushes along the path. The birds sang and they could hear the roaring sound of the falls in the distance as they climbed with all the energy of healthy youth to reach the top of the falls. While they hiked, the girls talked and laughed, enjoying one another’s company. They all seemed to be having a good time, but Jeanne may not have been feeling very happy inside.
Not too long before, at the high school where Jeanne was a senior, the students had all been asked to write a short message that would be printed under their picture in the yearbook. At the end of her message, Jeanne had written two little words: “I’m scared.” What a strange message! What was she scared of? Jeanne had heard about the Lord Jesus and His love for sinners, but she had never seemed very interested in the subject. Was she scared of God? Was she scared of death? Or was she scared of the unknown future?
As the girls neared the top of the falls, they heaved a sigh of relief; the hot hiking uphill was over, and in front of them were the beautiful falls. The girls decided to take off their shoes and wade in the pool of water just above the falls to cool off.
“Oops! There goes my shoe!” yelled Ann, Jeanne’s best friend, as her shoe fell out of her hand and into the water with a splash. “I hope it doesn’t go over the falls!”
“I’ll go after it,” yelled back Jeanne.
As Jeanne made her way after the shoe, she discovered that the current was stronger than she thought. She turned around and struggled to get back to the other girls, but the current was too strong for her. Right in front of her friends’ eyes, Jeanne was carried over the falls!
The girls could hardly believe what had happened! They ran for help, but it was too late. It was not until several weeks later that Jeanne’s body was found. That beautiful day Jeanne went out of this life and into eternity with no warning.
Boys and girls, are you ready to face eternity? Jeanne had no idea when she woke up that morning that she would be in eternity that very afternoon. If you were to die today with no warning, like Jeanne, where would you be? How wonderful it would be if you would be with the Lord Jesus in heaven where there is perfect love, true happiness and no more pain. But how terrible it would be to find yourself in hell with the devil and his angels! There is no happiness there — no light and no love! Come to the Lord Jesus and have your sins forgiven while you still have time.
Like Jeanne, none of us knows when we will die. Because of that, the Bible warns us, “Boast not [yourself] of tomorrow; for [you know] not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:11Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)). Not one of us knows if there will be a tomorrow for us. The Lord Jesus loves you and is calling to you right now: “Come unto Me, all [you] that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)). Won’t you come to Him today? Tomorrow may be too late.
Messages of God’s Love 9/3/2023