At the end of the school year, a fifth-grade class went on a weekend trip in a state park in Connecticut. Three girls from the class decided to take a hike through the forest. They were having lots of fun walking along the trails, telling stories, laughing and enjoying the pretty spring flowers.
However, they were so busy having fun that they weren’t watching where they were going and turned right where they should have turned left. It wasn’t long until they realized they didn’t know where they were. It was time to turn back!
But the more they tried to find their way back to camp, the more confused and lost they became. They wandered around all afternoon.
As it was beginning to get dark, they found themselves at the edge of a shallow swamp. When one of the girls thought she heard a wild animal behind them (a bear or wild dog or some other scary thing), the girls all plunged ahead into the swamp and began slogging as fast as they could through the murky water. At first, they fled through the swamp to get away from the noise, but when their fear of the noise was over, they hurried on to get out of the swamp, which in itself was scary with night coming on. They hurried on until they were exhausted. When it seemed like they could go no farther, they reached higher ground where they huddled together to spend the night. They were scared, tired, wet, cold and hungry. Then, to add to their troubles, it started raining.
When the girls didn’t return to camp at the proper time, the park rangers were called, and they immediately went out searching for them. The girls’ parents were also called, and they all hurried to the park. The parents spent what was probably the worst night of their lives, in the park headquarters, listening to the radio reports of the searchers who were looking for their lost daughters.
When the girls hadn’t been found by morning, 100 fresh volunteers were ready to renew the search. Among these volunteers was a state trooper named Andrew Rebbman and his old bloodhound named Clem.
The trooper led Clem to the place where the girls had last been seen. Then he had Clem sniff a piece of clothing one of the parents had brought that belonged to one of the girls. “Find them!” the trooper commanded Clem.
Clem sniffed around until he picked up their trail. When the scent was strong, Clem would pull against his leash, but when the scent was faint, he would spend more time sniffing, till he found the girls’ trail again.
After following the scent trail for three miles, Clem found a barrette that belonged to one of the girls. After another mile, he brought the search party to the edge of a swamp where the scent trail ended. Thinking the girls must have gone into the swamp, the men started calling. The girls heard them and shouted back.
The men headed through the swamp to where the girls were and then carried them on their shoulders all the way back to the rangers’ station. What a joyful moment it was when the girls were reunited with their parents!
Clem was a bloodhound, and bloodhounds are wonderfully able to follow a trail because of their keen sense of smell. The Lord Jesus is the Son of God, and He is wonderfully able to be the Savior of lost sinners. Let’s think about this. For three and a half years He did wonderful miracles — giving blind people their sight, healing people with leprosy and raising the dead. At the end of this time, Judas Iscariot, one of His close followers, betrayed Him into the hands of the religious leaders. These men were jealous of the Lord Jesus and wanted to put Him to death. In order to do this, they had to bring Him before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Pontius Pilate, even though he knew the Lord Jesus was innocent of everything they accused Him of, passed the death penalty on Him.
What a sad day that was when people rejected God’s only Son and nailed Him to a cross. The Lord Jesus, who made the world and everything in it, was killed by the very people He made — think of it! But when He hung on the cross, the love of God was seen more clearly than ever before, because it was then that the Lord Jesus took the punishment for the sins of each one who would trust in Him as their Lord and Savior. Now, the sins of every one who believes on Him are gone forever, because Jesus paid for them. If you trust in Him, your sins will be gone forever too. Isn’t He wonderful?
Messages of God’s Love 2/5/2023