A tall chimney had been completed and the scaffolding was being removed. One man remained on the top to supervise the process. All seemed to go well, except one detail had been overlooked. A rope should have been left for him to descend by, but somehow it had been forgotten.
Unaware of the problem, the wife of the man remaining on top of the chimney was at home washing. Suddenly her young son burst in shouting, "Mother, Mother, they've forgotten the rope! Daddy might fall!"
Her lips moved in an agony of silent prayer as she rushed over to the new chimney. There she found a crowd looking up helplessly at the lone man. He was moving cautiously along the narrow cornice, terrified and bewildered. It seemed that at any moment he might fall.
His wife from below cried out: "Wait, John!" The man became calm, and again she cried out to him: "Take off your stockings; unravel the wool." And he did so.
"Now tie a small piece of mortar to the end and lower it down."
Down came the thread weighted by the mortar. Lower and lower it descended, eagerly watched by many eyes. Now it was in reach, and was gently seized by one of the crowd. Quickly he fastened a little heavier cord to the thread, as the wool thread was not strong enough to bear the rope.
"Now, pull up." The man got hold of the cord, then lowered one end of it. The rope was now fastened on. "Pull away again." He at last got the rope and made it secure.
There were a few moments of suspense as he slid down. Then amidst the shouts of the crowd, he threw himself into the arms of his wife, crying: "You saved me, Mary!" The wool thread had not been despised: it had drawn after it the cord, the rope and the rescue.
My friend, you may be sunk very low down in sin and sorrow, but there is a thread of divine love waiting for you to grasp. It comes from the throne of heaven, and reaches even to you. Seize that thread. It may seem small, but it is stronger than death. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:21. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31.