THROUGH the month of December one storm after another brought record rainfall to California. Temperatures higher than usual had melted much of the snow in the mountains. Lakes and reservoirs filled to overflowing and still the rains came. The rivers ran deeper and soon overflowed their banks.
Higher and higher the water crept. Highways and railroad tracks were covered and then washed away. Homes and other buildings were pushed off their foundations by the force of the water. Some farmers put their horses and cows into barns only to have the flood waters come ever higher and destroy both barn and animals. Other farmers drove their animals to hilltops where they were safe.
As the days passed and the storms continued, warnings went out in the newspapers and over the radio telling people of the peril and urging them to get out of the danger areas. Besides this, groups of men went from house to house and from one farm to another, warning people to flee.
So it was that some men stood at the door of a cabin on Bull Creek, waiting to rescue its occupant, an old man, from the rising waters of the Eel River. They told him that the river was rising so fast that he must leave immediately. But he refused their kindness, as he answered them, “I have lived in this cabin for many years. The river has never risen above that peg, and it can’t happen now!”
His rescuers, however, knew that the water was going to rise yet more and would surely reach the very ground on which they were standing. Finding that their warnings were in vain, the men went boldly into the cabin, took the man up in their arms and carried him up the slope to higher ground. Here he was not only safe from the floodwaters but also would be cared for and fed.
How kind it was of those men to go forth to sound the warning of coming destruction, and not only to sound out the warning but also to actually carry a man to safety! What was their dismay and astonishment, however, when they saw the man running back to his cabin! The rescuers speedily followed but before they could overtake the man he was back inside. Now the rescuers again were at his door. Their knocking went unheeded and likewise their urgent calling. They tried the door but found it locked. Then with shoulder to door they tried to force their way in but again they failed.
The river had continued to rise and now was almost to the cabin. As the rescuers continued their pleading they looked up and saw a large wave coming down upon them. Now concerned for their own safety they ran for their lives. From the safe, high ground they looked back and saw the raging torrent hit the cabin with such force that it was torn from its foundation and smashed to pieces.
What must have been the thoughts then of the foolish man who had locked himself inside his cabin. He had just insisted that “It can’t happen now!” — but it did happen. In his proud self-confidence he lost everything — not just the cabin, but his life as well.
Dear reader, let me warn you of a worse flood that is coming on this poor world. God’s judgment is soon to fall on all those who turn a deaf ear to the gospel of His grace and on those who neglect that free salvation which He offers in and through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Long ago, God said, “Behold ye... and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.” Hab. 1:5. The work that God did was to provide a way by which sinners can be forgiven and made safe for heaven. The way of salvation is by faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.
“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.” Heb. 4:7.
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Heb. 2:3.
ML-01/20/1963