It was a hot summer day and the swimming pool was packed with children. Overhead the sky was clear and there was no wind. Everything looked normal and safe.
Almost out of nowhere, a summer storm was brewing. Threatening thunderclouds had gathered, and suddenly they opened up. Rain poured down and thunder rumbled too close for comfort. The lifeguards ordered the pool to be evacuated and quickly whistled for everyone to get out.
All the children began to head for the ladders to climb out, but the storm was moving faster than the children were. Travis, the head lifeguard, saw that those still in the pool were in danger and that something had to be done, and fast! He jumped into the water and began tossing the children out of the pool as fast as he could. Blinding flashes of lightning with deafening cracks of thunder were all around.
The people at the swimming pool had little warning of their danger, but you and I have had God’s warning of danger ahead for our entire lives. The Bible is God’s letter to us, and in it He tells us plainly that we are sinners and that there is judgment ahead for our sins. Just as those children needed help to get away from their danger, you and I cannot get away from our sins and the judgment we deserve by ourselves. We need help. Jesus has done that by putting Himself in the path of the judgment to save us.
Travis threw the last girl out of the pool and then scrambled out himself - just as a lightning bolt struck the water! The bolt momentarily blinded the bystanders who feared that both the lifeguard and the child had been struck in the water. They had made it out of the pool, but Travis lay unconscious on the deck.
After a few moments Travis regained consciousness. As his mind began to clear, he realized how close a call it had been - the water in the pool was still steaming from the lightning strike. You can be sure that every child and every parent was grateful to Travis for what he had done for them!
Thankfully, Travis was not killed in saving those children, but Jesus had no choice but to die to save us from our sins. Because God loves you and me so much, He sent the Lord Jesus down here to take that punishment on the cross for the sins of every person who will accept Him as his or her Saviour. The girl in the pool could have said to Travis, “I’ll get out by myself ! ” Instead she let Travis lift her out of danger. Will you let the Lord Jesus remove you from your danger by letting Him wash away your sins? You can’t do it by yourself. He is the only One who can. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
In bitter cold and through blinding snowstorms the weary soldiers plodded on. They had followed their leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, to Moscow, and now they were retreating across the frozen Russian countryside. Every day more and more of the weary, freezing soldiers gave up the struggle and fell by the side of the road.
As column after column of troops marched west, one of the soldiers heard a cry coming from a snowdrift at the side of the road. Stopping to make a quick search, he found a small boy sobbing and shivering in the bitter cold. The little boy told the soldier his name was Pierre. He had fallen off a wagon that had gone on ahead and had not been missed.
Gently the soldier picked up Pierre and, opening his own coat, tucked the little boy inside. Then, hurrying to rejoin his company, the soldier marched on, carrying Pierre safely inside his warm coat.
Day after day the soldiers continued their march, and little Pierre was often passed from soldier to soldier. Many of the men took turns carrying the little boy and keeping him safe and warm inside their coats. As they marched they had to cross dangerous rivers and fight battles with their enemies, but through it all little Pierre was kept safe. The soldiers had rescued him from the snowdrift, and they protected him and cared for him until he was returned safely to his home in Paris.
Boys and girls, the Lord Jesus has done something far more wonderful for you than the soldiers did for little Pierre. The Lord Jesus loved you so very much that He suffered and died on the cross to save you from the punishment your sins deserved. All you need to do is admit that you are a sinner and that you need a Saviour. Then thank the Lord Jesus for dying for you. “The Son of God . . . loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)). “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] 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)).
Little Pierre could not do anything to save himself from the snow and cold, nor could he find his way safely home to Paris. He trusted the soldiers for everything, and they carried him the whole way.
All through the battles the soldiers protected Pierre, and no enemy could harm him. So the Lord Jesus is guarding and protecting us from our enemy, Satan. In John 10:2828And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28) we read that Jesus said, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” He saves us and then takes care of us and protects us.
Isn’t He a wonderful Saviour? Is He your Saviour?
ML-02/01/1998