Mr. Howard was getting ready one morning to mow the lawn, and as he was preparing to go outside his wife said to him, “Look down in the cellar window well.” You know, sometimes if the basement is deep, there’s a piece of metal that makes a wall around the window to keep the earth and grass away, and Mr. Howard had a fairly deep window well. Some little frogs had jumped into that deep window well. They couldn’t jump out, though when Mr. Howard saw them they were jumping up with all their might.
(You know, there are people in this world right now doing everything they can think of to get rid of their sins and to get into heaven. It won’t work! There is no way to climb, jump or fly to heaven by any human effort. Jesus only is the way.)
Well, these frogs were jumping. Some of them could jump oh-so-high, but they couldn’t jump quite high enough to escape from that slippery well.
Mr. Howard thought, Well, this will be no problem. So he got down in the grass, and he reached his arm down-down into that window well. The frogs jumped up toward his hand, but he found that the well was still too deep and his arm was too short. He could not get hold of those frogs. As much as he wanted to reach down and save those frogs from certain death, he couldn’t get hold of them. But the sinner who recognizes the need of a Savior will never find the Lord Jesus unable to reach him. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save” (Isa. 59:11Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: (Isaiah 59:1)).
He decided he would have to do something more, something other than just reach down in that window well. He would have to go down where they were. He stood up and he put one foot ever so carefully down into the window well without crushing those frogs. He took the other foot, and ever so carefully he put the other foot inside the window well, and he got right down in there with those little frogs.
Now there was no difficulty. Now he could just reach down and pick up those frogs. He picked them up, one by one, and let them go on the grass. Off they hopped across the lawn, without a moment’s hesitation.
Mr. Howard had to get right down where the little frogs were, even as the Lord Jesus had to come down to earth where we were. And the little frogs were lifted out one by one, even as we must be saved-one by one. But how far short the story comes! Mr. Howard had to step down very carefully and one by one save those little frogs, but really it didn’t cost him anything more than a few minutes of his time.
But oh! the Lord Jesus! What it cost Him to save us! He came down into this world it’s true there was that beautiful pathway of healing the sick, cleansing the leper, giving sight to the blind, speaking words of comfort and cheer-but that didn’t save my soul. That won’t save your soul either. He had to go all the way to the cross of Calvary, all the way to that terrible, shameful death (“He laid down His life for us”!) before He could reach out and lift one of His poor, miserable, sinful creatures. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” (Psa. 40:22He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalm 40:2)).
Have you accepted His outstretched hand?