DOWN ON the plains of Venezuela there was a boy who knew the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, and had confessed Him fearlessly before others. One day he went down to the river in the early morning to get water for the house. Unknown to him an alligator was lying in the water watching him. Waiting his opportunity, the alligator suddenly leaped on the boy and gripping him by the leg, carried him into the river.
There was no one nearby to help the poor boy, and in his desperation he cried out, “Lord Jesus, save me!” The alligator, for some outwardly unexplainable reason, dropped the boy. The little fellow clambered out of the river and ran to the house, with the marks of the alligator’s teeth on his thigh.
We know why the alligator dropped him; for surely it was God who answered the prayer of the poor boy in his desperate need. His Word tells us, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.” Psalms 34:1515The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. (Psalm 34:15). He also says in Psalms 50:1515And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15), “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”
What a wonderful thing it is, dear young friends, to belong to Christ. Those who come to Him as guilty sinners, desiring to be saved, have their sins put away forever. He makes them His own, for they are bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:2020For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:20)); and nothing can happen to them but what He allows for their good and blessing. He might have allowed the alligator to carry off that dear boy, but then for him “sudden death would be sudden glory.” He tells us in His Word that for the child of God, “to die is gain,” and “to depart, and to be with Christ;... is far better.” Philippians 1:2121For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21). 23.
If you, who read these lines, do not yet know this precious Saviour, we urge you to come now to Him, and drink the refreshing streams of God’s grace. Rejoice in the sunshine of His love, and set out on the road to heaven.
ML-05/04/1969