Nobody saw the excited bees coming out of the one-inch hole in the outside wall of the repair shop. But minutes later, Mr. Johnson was horrified to see his elderly father lying face-down on the driveway, covered with bees. The noise and vibration of his power lawn mower had disturbed the swarm of killer bees. The angry bees had attacked him, stinging him hundreds of times. Mr. Johnson rushed to his father’s side to try to help him. Suddenly he was covered with bees too. They flew into his ears, nose and mouth, stinging him again and again.
Fire fighters came and sprayed the bees with a fire retardant that allowed rescuers to drag the two men to an ambulance. But as they drove away, thousands of bees swarmed the ambulance, forcing the driver to pull off the road. Finally the ambulance was able to go on, and the two Johnson men were hospitalized and later released.
These were extremely dangerous, aggressive bees from South America that had worked their way as far north as Texas. The residents of Georgetown, Texas, where the Johnsons lived, were frightened and concerned. There had been reports before about bees attacking people to the south of them, but now the bees had moved farther north than they had ever been before. One person was quoted as saying, “Before, we thought, That’s not going to happen to us. We’re too far north.” But it had happened - the bees had come.
Many people will deny that something bad can happen to them; they live life as though they will be here forever. But we don’t know what tomorrow holds for us. Even death can come quickly and without warning. How important it is to be prepared ahead of time. Luke 12:1621 tells the story of the man who was so rich he said he was going to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. Then the next part of his plan was to party for the rest of his life. But God told him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” The rich man was going to die that night, and then all those riches wouldn’t be worth a thing to him. All that would matter was whether or not he was ready to meet God. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:3636For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36)).
ML-10/21/2001