“Tom, did you hear that preacher say that a terrible time is ahead for this world, and that the only place to hide from it is in the cleft of the rock? What did he mean?”
“In the cleft of the rock? Sure, I know what that means. I was saved that way once, and I can never forget it.”
“How did it happen? Tell us about it.”
“You remember that old railroad that ran through our town? It was a single track, and where it ran in that long curve at the foot of the hill mighty little space was left between the rocks on the one side and the river on the other.”
“Yes, I often thought what an awful wreck it would have been if the train jumped the track there. Just enough space for a train to pass without hitting the rocks on the side of the hill.”
“And no place for a person to stand on the other side if a train should come while he was there. It was an awful place before the roadbed was widened and the second track was laid. I shudder to think of what might have happened to me there.
“It was when I was just a boy. My sister and I were coming home from school, and we thought it would be shorter and easier to try the railroad track instead of the long walk over the hill. It was after the time for the express, and no other train was scheduled, so we felt safe enough. We hardly thought of danger anyway. She was older than I was, and I left all the worry to her.
“We were going along pretty slowly; I was throwing stones into the water and she was watching, when suddenly she caught my hand and screamed, ‘Run! Run! A train is coming!’
“I heard its roar, and then the whistle as it came near the curve. My heart seemed to stop. I knew it was the express. If my sister had not forced me on I might have been powerless to run. We ran as fast as we could, but how can the feet of children win a race with an express train, especially if that train is behind time and trying to make it up?
“Oh, the awful terror of that minute! Every moment we felt must be our last. We could hear the roar of the train coming nearer and nearer, but we dared not look around. Tightly holding each other’s hand, we ran.
“Suddenly the whistle blew. The engineer had seen us, but too late to stop the train. Whether or not the whistle made my sister notice, I don’t know, but just then we reached a place where a large chunk of rock had been blown out of the cliff beside the track. It seemed as if the rock had parted and a wedge had been taken out. Before I had time to think, my sister pushed me into the cleft in the rock. Then she threw herself forward and crowded me into the opening.
“The train rushed by—and left us safe in the cleft. We were saved by a fraction of space and a single moment only. Had we gone any further the train would have caught us and—well I would not be here to tell you about it.”
“That was a narrow escape!”
“Yes, and I never think of it without a chill. We were saved by that cleft in the rock. If ever children were thankful for anything, we were for that cleft in the rock. I often think, Suppose it had not been there?”
“But what has that to do with the sermon we heard yesterday? Of course it was a good sermon, but I don’t see how it applies to us, Tom. You and I are pretty good men. It doesn’t concern us about God punishing sinners. I believe He will, but not men like you and me.”
“Jim, I’ll tell you why it concerns me, and maybe you too. I know I am not a Christian, and so I am in the way of danger. Destruction’s express train may be coming along soon; it may overtake me. Then what? That sermon meant me, and I’m afraid it meant you too. But that minister spoke of the cleft in the rock. That is on my mind all the time, and I know what he means.
“We must find some place to hide, some place where destruction’s train cannot reach us. Right alongside of where we are is a cleft Rock, and in that is the place to hide. That Rock is Christ, and that is what the minister meant when he said that we must ‘hide in the Rock, Christ.’ That is what is meant by that hymn:
Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
“Jim, I’ve made up my mind to hide in that Rock! That is the place of safety we both need—and Christ is our only way to be saved.”
“Well, it does have more meaning to me now, Tom, than it did before. Yes, you are right! Thank God we have found that cleft in time!”
Have you who read this found that cleft in the Rock—God’s provision for your eternal safety? Time is fast slipping away. Cast yourself into it, and make Christ your Saviour now. In Him is everlasting peace and security.
Lead me to the rock
that is
higher than I.