Dear Boys and Girls,
In this letter I’m going to tell you about two boys who went fishing at just the right time! Little did they think that they were going to be needed as rescuers.
The place where Alex and Danny were going to fish was a pier that people use for launching their boats into the water and taking them out again. The water is the fast-moving Niagara River, which is very dangerous! This pier juts out into the river fifty feet.
When the two young teens started down the pier, it was beginning to get windy and the waves were growing higher. To their surprise, a small boy was already fishing in their favorite spot. As Alex and Danny were looking for another spot to fish, the two friends saw the young boy accidentally drop his fishing pole into the water. Then to their alarm, the boy jumped into the water to save his fishing pole!
Maybe you have read in the Bible in the Book of Luke, chapter 15, about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. This young boy had just lost his fishing pole. Thankfully we can read that the lost sheep, coin and son were all found! But what about this young boy and his fishing pole that were both in the water?
The boy, who could barely swim, was struggling in the water, with waves washing over his head. Then his father, who couldn’t swim very well either, jumped in to save his son, but he too struggled against the high waves. They both began screaming for help. When the grandmother quickly came and saw waves washing over her grandson’s head, she jumped in to save him since she could swim. Soon she was also in trouble, and the current of this powerful river was beginning to pull all three of them away from the pier and towards Niagara Falls. They needed help and they needed it NOW!
Do any of you children remember the story about Peter who thought he would walk on the water to meet the Lord Jesus? When he took his eyes off the Lord, he started to sink! What a feeling that must have been! So Peter called with a loud voice, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:3030But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. (Matthew 14:30)). Just three words ... and immediately the Lord Jesus stretched out His hand and saved him! What a Saviour!
Horrified at what they were watching and hearing them all calling for help, Alex and Danny decided they had to come up with an idea fast to save these three people before they were caught in the river’s current. Then it would be hopeless.
The two teens knew it was foolish to jump into the swift river to try to save this family. They decided to tie their fishing rods together to make a six-foot pole that each of the three family members could grab one at a time. They ran to the side of the pier, stretched out this long pole and pulled in the little boy first, then the father and then the grandmother. All three were saved from drowning! What a happy moment that was when the three were standing on the pier with the two boys who had just saved them! And nobody even gave a thought to the lost fishing pole that started it all.
God used these two boys to rescue this family from the threat of death. And now children and grown-ups, just stop and think for a moment about death and what comes after. Will you be in heaven or hell? God in love sent His Son Jesus to save us from spending eternity in hell, because it is our sins that will take us there. And the very moment you or I trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, our names are written down in the book of life in heaven. We are saved for an eternity with Him! And He assures us, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine” (Isaiah 43:11But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. (Isaiah 43:1)).
Children, we hope and pray that one day we will meet each one of you in heaven. And if you haven’t trusted Jesus to be your very own Saviour, please do that right now!
Lots of love,
Grampa and Gramma