Have you ever been completely helpless? A friend of mine named Carl who served in the Vietnam war told me his story of a time when he experienced total helplessness.
“It was toward the beginning of the war when I was wounded. One day during an attack four of us soldiers were advancing toward a wounded point-man to try to rescue him when some enemy soldiers fired at us. I took a bullet in my hip but managed to escape, but the three soldiers I was with were killed instantly.
“Because of the seriousness of my injuries, I could not be transported out of Vietnam immediately. They placed me in a field hospital. The hospital, or Quonset hut as it was called, was simply a half-dome structure made of corrugated steel. There was no air conditioning or running water and only minimal electricity available. Conditions were terrible. The heat was unending and oppressive, and the moans of the injured and the stench of death never stopped.
“One evening the hospital was attacked. As the bombs began to fall, the nurses and orderlies ran for their lives to the bunkers which were located at the ends of the building. All the lights went out and screams filled the air. There I lay, unable to help or protect myself. I was completely helpless in the face of death.
“Somehow in the darkness I managed to crawl under my bed where I lay until the attack was over. I was one of the few men who could move at all. When the nurses finally came back, that is where they found me.
“Soon after, I was shipped to Japan and then back home after further recovery. But I never forgot the complete helplessness of that long night.”
Have you ever felt as helpless as Carl did? If you are still in your sins, you are just that helpless, and the Bible says that you also have a sentence of death for those sins: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). There isn’t one thing you can do to get rid of your sins by yourself. But there is good news. We want to tell you that there is a Saviour who loves you and is offering you the gift of salvation. The Lord Jesus died on the cross to redeem people from their sins, and He is offering you forgiveness for your sins if you will by faith accept Him as your very own Saviour. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:89).
ML-10/04/1998