It was in the early hours of the morning when I awakened and heard the sickly cry of my 10-month-old nephew who was visiting us along with his mother, my sister.
I could hear my mother and sister trying to soothe Ryan by rocking him, singing to him, feeding him—but nothing seemed to help.
The day before they had taken Ryan to the emergency room of the hospital. The man on duty took a quick look at him and said, “He can wait until Monday morning when the specialist is in.” But Monday morning would have been too late!
As I lay in bed listening to Ryan’s sick, helpless cry, I thought to myself, “What if he died? What would it be like if he or any of my family died right now?” I knew that a person of any age could die. Death can take a 10-month-old baby, or a 12-year-old child, or an 80-year-old person. This verse in the Bible came to my mind: “Prepare to meet thy God.” Amos 4:1212Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. (Amos 4:12). How terrible it would be to meet God as a sinner! Would you be afraid to meet God if you died? I knew that if I were to die right then I was ready to meet God, because I trusted in the Lord Jesus, God’s Son, and my sins were washed away in His blood. So I settled back to sleep with a prayer that God would take care of Ryan.
The next morning Ryan still looked very sick. His face had lost its rosy color, his eyes looked so big and round and sunken in, and his weak, little cry was hoarse and raspy. The family knew something was terribly wrong, because he could not keep any food down, and as we held him he passed out. There was no question but that Ryan was going back to the emergency room. His little life was slowly slipping away!
As the car pulled out of the driveway to take Ryan to the hospital, my father, brother and I knelt down by the living room couch and asked the Lord Jesus to take care of Ryan. In my father’s prayer he thanked Him for bringing Ryan into our lives, and asked Him to help us accept it if He took Ryan out of our lives. I cried when I heard this, because then I realized that Ryan might not return home again!
When they arrived at the emergency room, the same man was on duty that had turned them away the day before. As they walked in carrying Ryan he said, “I thought I told you not to return until Monday!” Hearing this, they insisted that a doctor be called at once. Ryan was put in a hospital crib and placed under a concerned doctor’s care.
Doesn’t it seem unusual that the man on duty at the emergency room did not want to call a doctor to care for a sick little boy? He must not have wanted to bother a doctor on the weekend. This man’s response was exactly opposite to how the Lord Jesus responds to any “sin-sick” person that comes to Him. The Lord Jesus says: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37).
You may ask, “Why do I need to come to the Lord Jesus?” The reason is clear—because we “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23). Little Ryan needed the care and medical treatment provided by the doctor, or he would have died. It is the same for each of us. Without the death of the Lord Jesus and His rising from the dead, there would be no hope for you and me. By accepting what He has done for us when He died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins, we can know that our sins are forgiven. There is no need for any of us to die in our sins, because the Bible tells us “Whosoever believeth in Him (the Lord Jesus) should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
After Ryan was under a doctor’s care, many tests were run and his problem was discovered and treated. He was a very sick little boy and had to spend two weeks in the hospital. He finally got well enough to come home again. What a happy day that was for all of us!
ML-07/25/1982