Andy had gone to the store to buy a loaf of bread for his mother. As he returned home he heard someone speaking loudly. There on the corner was a small group of people gathered around a man who was standing on a small platform.
Andy walked up to the group of people and, because he was not very big and could not see over the people, he pushed through the crowd to get as close to the platform as he could.
He listened to the man for a few seconds and then turned to leave. He did not want to hear about “church stuff.” After all, it was Saturday, not Sunday.
But the crowd had gotten larger, and Andy could not get out. People had gathered all around so that he could not move.
Since he could not get out through the crowd, Andy could only listen. He had heard of some of the things before, from going to Sunday school with his parents. They went every week, but Andy never liked it and never listened very well.
The speaker on the street corner was different. He was talking about something that made Andy think. It was a verse from the Bible which said, “If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain.” 1 Samuel 19:1111Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. (1 Samuel 19:11). Andy did know that the Bible was God’s very own words and that everything in the Bible was positively true. So he wondered, what did that verse mean?
All the way home Andy thought about those words. They worried him, and he could not get them out of his mind. Even after he went to bed that night, those same words kept racing through his mind: “If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain.”
“Mom?” he called to his mother who was still downstairs.
“Go to sleep, Andy,” answered his mother. “You should have been asleep long ago.”
“But I’m scared,” said Andy.
She came into Andy’s room and sat down on the bed. She could see that he had been crying.
“What’s wrong, Andy?” she asked softly.
“I heard a man preaching on the street corner this afternoon when I went to the store for you. He said that if I didn’t save my life tonight, tomorrow might be too late, and I might be killed.”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean it just like that,” assured his mother.
“Yes, he did,” said Andy with a new seriousness in his voice. “How can I save my life tonight? What did he mean?”
Andy wanted to talk about it right then. His parents had talked to him before about the Lord Jesus and about his need to be saved, but Andy had never seemed to pay much attention. His mother realized that this was what they had been praying for—that Andy might see his need to be saved and be willing to take that step.
His mother started right from the beginning and told Andy how that long, long ago the Lord Jesus Christ had made all the stars in heaven, the earth that we live on, and all that is on the earth. She told him about our first parents, Adam and Eve and the beautiful Garden of Eden, how they disobeyed God, and how their children became more and more wicked as the years went by, until He had to punish them with a flood.
“But God still loved them,” his mother continued, “and He sent many messengers to tell them about His love and to ask them to come back to Him. They did not obey the messengers, and at last, after a long time, the Lord Jesus Himself came down from heaven to show how real His love was for man.
“So leaving behind Him all the wonderful things that were His in heaven, He became a little child, being born of Mary, and grew up on earth. When He grew to manhood, He went around telling people of His love for them, all the while healing their sicknesses and helping them in many ways.
“He told them, too, that if only they would believe in Him and accept Him as their Saviour, He would forgive them for all the wrong things (sins) they had done and save them from the punishment that would otherwise certainly come to them.” She also told Andy about God’s promise in the Bible to give them everlasting life and to come back for them someday, or to raise them from their graves, and take them to live with Him in heaven forever.
“These were wonderful promises to make, especially to people who had been so unkind to Him,” his mother went on, “and you would think that everybody then, as well as now, would have gladly accepted Him as their Saviour. But no, instead they took Him and nailed Him to a big wooden cross. It was an awful thing to do to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God! I wonder sometimes why God didn’t punish all those people right then for what they were doing. His love is so wonderful that our poor hearts and minds cannot understand it.
“It was on that cross that His love was displayed the most. There for three hours, while everything was in total darkness, He was punished for my sins and for the sins of all who have and will accept Him as their Saviour. Even though it was during the middle of the day, God hid that awful punishment that had to be borne by the Lord Jesus so that sinners like us could be saved.
“Then at the end of those three hours, we read that a soldier thrust a spear into the side of the Lord Jesus. The blood that flowed from that wound is the blood that can wash all our sins away and makes us clean before God. The Bible says, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’ 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
“A few of His disciples, or followers, buried the Lord Jesus in a tomb. But after three days He came to life again—just like He said He would! After that He met with those who had believed in Him, and told them He was now going back to heaven, but that He would keep His promise to come again. Today He is still in heaven, but very soon now He will come back and take to heaven everyone who knows Him as Saviour.”
“But how can I be sure He will take me?” asked Andy.
His mother answered, “The Bible says ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved’ (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). That is what the man on the street corner meant when he talked about saving your life tonight. He wanted you and all the other people who were listening to accept the Lord Jesus as their Saviour right today. If you do that then you don’t need to worry about what might happen to you tonight, tomorrow or in years to come. You will belong to the Lord Jesus, and He will take care of you until He comes, or for the rest of your life.”
Andy said, “I want to take Him as my Saviour right now.” Then kneeling down with his mother, Andy in a simple way confessed he needed to be saved from his sins and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to be his Saviour.
How happy they both were, and how happy his daddy was when he heard, too. But as his daddy said, “Even though we are so happy, there is even greater happiness in heaven, because you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour.”
ML-10/02/1983