George drove his old station wagon down the unpaved forest road towards his favorite fishing hole. Fishing was one of the things he loved most. The winding road led through thick forests, until at last he saw the deep, blue lake ahead of him. What a happy sight!
The road sloped down right to the water’s edge. He stepped on the brakes twenty feet away from the water, shifted into park and turned the engine off. Reaching over the seat, he grabbed his fishing pole and tackle box and left his sack lunch of sandwiches and donuts on the passenger seat.
George walked to the water’s edge and down a shoreline trail a short way to his favorite spot. Then he baited his hook with a fat nightcrawler. The worm wiggled on the hook—nothing like a wiggly worm to attract the fish. Soon George was busy reeling in panfish, and by midday his stringer was full. Not a bad morning’s catch. He decided to call it quits, and, picking up his things, he began hiking back to his station wagon.
On the way back he heard a commotion—groans and grunts—coming from what sounded like a large animal. What’s making those noises? he wondered as he neared the car. Then he saw it! A black bear had stuck its head and upper body into his car window and was struggling to pull its fat lower body through the window.
George knew immediately—It’s after my lunch! He also wisely decided that it was too late to do anything about it. He set his stuff down and sat down on a tree stump a safe distance away to watch what the bear would do next.
The bear gave up trying to pull its whole body through the window and decided to eat the lunch with half his body squeezed into the car. He grabbed the sack with his paw and scattered the contents all over the car. Bit by bit, the bear gobbled up what it could reach. Then, not seeing any more food, the still-hungry animal began rummaging through all the nooks and crannies of the car with his paws, looking for more to eat. While rummaging, the bear bumped the gearshift lever and knocked it from “P” for park into “N” for neutral. The car began to slowly roll downhill, gathering speed as it went and heading straight for the lake.
The front bumper of the car hit the water first, then the grill, then the front tires and then water started to fill the inside of the car, rising to the height of the front seat. When it came to a stop, the entire car, except for the brown top, was underwater. The bear made a furious tug and pulled himself free and ran off, splashing through the shallow water.
What a commotion the bear had made, and what a problem George had now! It all could have been avoided if only he had closed the car window. He had a long way to walk to find help. Then he had to hire a tow truck to pull his station wagon out of the water and tow it back to a car repair shop in town. Then a mechanic charged him a lot of money to get his engine running again.
How George wished he hadn’t been so careless in keeping his car safe. All he needed to have done was just close the window. He would have saved himself a huge amount of trouble and money.
Are you being careless with your soul? God wants you to let the Lord Jesus save your soul so you don’t suffer loss—a loss far greater than George’s. The only way your soul can be saved is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)).
What is the result of believing on the Lord Jesus? Those who believe in their hearts receive the forgiveness of their sins and a wonderful new life that makes them ready for heaven. “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 3:1616For 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)). He doesn’t want you to wait until you think you can become a better person. That won’t help—you’ll still be in your sins. He wants you to come right now just as you are. He is the only Saviour because of the mighty work He did on the cross, bearing the punishment for sin and shedding His blood that has the power to wash away your sins. “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)).
Once you are saved, God wants you to keep your heart fresh in His love by staying close to Him. Of course, someone who loves God will love His Word and keep His commandments. To keep God’s love fresh in our hearts, we should be careful to keep sin out. Sin makes the love of God grow cold in our hearts. It has the ability to sneak into our lives if we are careless, just as the bear sneaked into the open window of the car. That is why we need to store Bible verses in our hearts. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:1111Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)). Only by hiding God’s Word in our hearts can we have victory over sin.
Poor George was careless. As a result his lunch was stolen and his car got a dunking in the lake. Don’t be careless with your soul. Won’t you be sure that your soul is safe by admitting to the Lord Jesus that you are a sinner and accepting Him as your very own Saviour? Then if you will hold tightly to His precious Word, you will enjoy God’s rich blessings and avoid much unhappiness.
ML-11/18/2012