Winter can be a lot of fun for boys and girls, but it can also be very dangerous. The story that we have to tell you today took place several years ago in southern Utah, where the winters are quite cold with lots of snow. It is the story of an 8-year-old boy who was rescued by a very brave man, even though the rescue was extremely risky and difficult.
It was Christmas Day, shortly after 5:00 in the evening. A group of children were playing near a large pond that was iced over when a dog belonging to one of the boys ran off across the pond. As children will do without thinking, the boy chased after his dog and ended up falling through the ice into the freezing pond water. Another boy saw what happened and went out onto the ice to try to lift his friend out of the water. But he couldn’t do it!
The children ran for help! Rescue people were called to the pond. One of the first to arrive was a sheriff’s deputy, Sergeant Aaron Thomas. Realizing that the boy had been in the water for some time and that his chances of survival were growing less by the minute, he decided to try to rescue the boy before the “dive team” arrived.
Cutting a path through the ice with his hands, he started to walk out to where they thought the boy was. A woman pointed out where she had last seen his hand sticking out of the water, which was about 25 feet from shore. As the water became deeper and the ice became thicker, Sergeant Thomas had to stand on top of the ice and jump on it to break it up. It was hard work, but he was unwilling to give up! With another man helping, they managed to punch their way through the ice to where the boy had last been seen.
With his head barely above the ice and standing on his tip toes, Sergeant Thomas felt under the water for the boy. He knew how to search because he had been on a search-and-rescue team before. Moving his hands in an up-and-down pattern, he searched the area where they had broken out the ice. Minutes went by, and he was getting desperate as time was running out. Finally, he felt the boy under the water and was able to pull him out! In his own words, Sergeant Thomas said, “I felt relief just to make it back to shore!”
The boy was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Though he was unconscious when he was pulled out of the water, by the next day he was awake and doing well, even answering questions. Sergeant Thomas also had to be treated for hypothermia (this means he was dangerously cold), and also for cuts and bruises from breaking up the ice. Even though he needed a few stitches and suffered some nerve damage, he would make a full recovery.
Boys and girls, this is just a little picture of what God has done for us. Sergeant Thomas was willing to risk his life to save an 8-year-old boy, because the boy would have drowned without his help. God saw that we were helpless in our sins and could do nothing to save ourselves. It is not possible for us to carry even one sin into heaven’s sinless glory. The Bible tells us that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:99The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)).
This is why the Bible says that “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)). It cost the Lord Jesus His life to die on the cross for our sins, in order to provide a free salvation for us, if we will accept it. When we tell God we are sorry for our sins and put our trust in Jesus’ death for us on the cross, we are forgiven and made fit for heaven. God promises to give us eternal life! “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:1313These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)).
Boys and girls, do each of you know for sure that you have eternal life?
Messages of God’s Love 5/24/2020