One mild day in March, even though snow was still on the ground, the ice on the pond was getting very soft and no longer safe. Our two grandchildren came to visit us, bringing two of their friends. We warned all of them not to go near the pond, since the ice was very soft. They said, “Okay, Grandpa.”
The Lord Jesus has warned us of wrath to come. “Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:77But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:7)). God knows that judgment is not far away, and so He has given us a way to escape this “wrath” through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The children took our dog Jake outside with them and were having a good time in the wet snow. They would make snowballs and throw them, so Jake would chase them. (Grandma and I were watching all this through the living room window.) Then one of the boys got the idea to throw snowballs out on the ice to see if Jake would go after them. But somehow Jake knew the ice was unsafe and would not go out on the pond. God has given some animals instincts that we humans do not understand.
However, one boy decided to try the ice anyway. He got out about two feet and broke through! If the children had obeyed us, this would not have happened. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Ephesians 6:11Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. (Ephesians 6:1)).
The children knew who they could turn to for help. They came straight to the house as fast as they could run. We were waiting for them at the door. Off came the water-filled boots and wet pants.
“What happened?” Grandma asked. She knew all along what had happened. And God knows all things too, for He tells us that “the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:33The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)).
“Jake pushed me in,” answered the boy.
“Well,” Grandma said, “if Jake pushed you in, why isn’t Jake wet too?” Now what could he say?
The children finally very sheepishly admitted they had done wrong, and we forgave them. BUT . . . work had to be done to clean up their disobedience. Clothes had to be washed and dried.
And our Lord Jesus Christ has completed the work for our salvation on the cross of Calvary through His own precious blood. He will wash your sins away, if you just run to Him. He is waiting for you.
Will you trust in the finished work of Christ? “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)).
ML-03/05/2000