In the windy city of
Chicago, a huge winter blizzard was on the way. A little boy was trying
his best to sell newspapers on a street corner as people quickly raced by due
to the severe cold. The little boy was freezing and wasn’t selling any
papers at all. He walked up to a policeman and said, “Sir, you wouldn’t
happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep, would you?
I sleep in a box in the alley and it will be awfully cold tonight.
It sure would be nice to sleep in a warm place during the storm.”
The policeman looked
down at the little boy and said, “You go down the street to that big white
house and knock on the door. When they open the door, you just say John
3:16 and they will let you in.”
The little boy
mustered up sufficient courage to try. He walked up the steps, knocked on
the door, and an aging lady answered. The hopeful child looked up at the
woman, and just as he was told, he said “John 3:16.” The old lady simply
smiled and welcomed him. “Come on in, son.”
She took him in and
sat him down in a rocker in front of a blazing fireplace, then walked away.
He sat there for a while and thought to himself, “John 3:16...I don’t
understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.”
Later the lady came
back and asked invitingly, “Child, are you hungry?” He said, “Well, I
haven’t eaten in a couple of days and I could stand a bit of food.” The
lady took him into her kitchen and sat him down to a table filled with
delicious food. He ate and ate until he couldn’t eat more. Then he
thought to himself, “John 3:16...I don’t understand it, but it sure makes a
hungry boy full.”
She took him upstairs
to a bathroom with a huge bathtub filled with warm water. And as he sat
there soaking, he thought to himself, “John 3:16...I don't understand it, but
it sure makes a dirty boy clean. I haven’t had a real bath in years.
The only bath I remember is when I stand in front of that big fire
hydrant as they flush it out.”
The lady came in to
get him. She escorted him to the guest bedroom, where she tucked him into
a soft feather bed, kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights. As he
laid there in the darkness, looking out the window at the snow pouring down
outside, he thought to himself, “John 3:16...I don’t understand it, but it sure
makes a tired boy feel rested.”
The next morning,
the woman came back and took him down to that same kitchen table, filled with food. After the little boy ate, she led him to that
same rocker in front of the fireplace, took out a Bible, sat near him and
asked, “Do you understand John 3:16?”
The little boy
answered honestly, “No, Ma’am, I don’t. The first time I ever heard it
was last night when the policeman told me to use it when I knocked at your
door.”
The woman opened her
Bible to John 3:16, and she began to tell the little boy about Jesus Christ.
And right there, in front of that old fireplace, he gave his heart and
his life to Jesus. Afterwards, he sat there alone and he thought, “John
3:16…I don't fully understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.”
You know, after a
lifetime of reading and studying the scriptures, I must be totally transparent
and admit that I don’t completely understand it either. How could one
ever fathom how GOD would be willing to
send HIS SON to die in our place, or how THE SON would ever agree to
offer such a sacrificial gift? “For 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…I don’t fully understand it either, but
it sure makes life worth living.
Sisters and brothers,
be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO
MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!
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