“Val, please take these apples over to Mrs. Lawrence. She might enjoy some, and we have so many.”
“Sure, Mom.”
Valerie took the bag from her mother and walked over to Mrs. Lawrence’s house. She rang the doorbell, but no one answered. She tried the door and found it was unlocked, so she stepped inside, calling for Mrs. Lawrence.
That’s strange, Valerie thought to herself. She looked in the kitchen and bedrooms but could not find Mrs. Lawrence. She searched all through the house and then checked the backyard without finding her. All she found was her cat Blinker curled up asleep on one of the beds.
It isn’t like Mrs. Lawrence to go out and leave her door unlocked—she is always so careful. Oh! I wonder. . . Her heart leaped as she thought, Has Jesus come and taken Mrs. Lawrence and all the other Christians up to heaven and I’m left behind?
Stunned by this awful thought, Valerie sank into a chair. Everyone knew Mrs. Lawrence was a born-again Christian because she was always talking about her Saviour. She had had some serious talks with Val about accepting the Lord Jesus as her own Saviour, explaining that He was coming one day soon to take all who had accepted Him home to heaven. Why hadn’t she asked the Lord Jesus to be her Saviour before now? She had meant to do it, and now ... was it too late? She was so scared that Val could feel her heart pounding.
A few minutes later the front door opened and in walked Mrs. Lawrence. Relief filled Valerie’s heart! There was still time—it wasn’t too late!
“Why, Valerie, how nice to see you!” Mrs. Lawrence said, a little surprised. “How did you get in? I was wondering when I came in why the door was unlocked.”
Valerie told her what had happened.
“Barbara must have misunderstood me when she left for work, thinking I wanted it left unlocked.”
“I think God wanted her to leave it unlocked, Mrs. Lawrence,” Valerie said. And in her heart she added, I’m so glad there is still time! I’m going to ask Jesus to forgive my sins and be my Saviour today before it’s too late and I’m left behind.
And she did. But what about you?
“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). “We which are alive ... shall be caught up together ... to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
ML-05/17/2015