IN WORLD WAR I, an army officer had a faithful German shepherd dog whom he called Stief. The officer fell on the field of battle. At the time Stief was tied up behind the lines. Sensing his master’s danger, Stief chewed through his leash, dashed through deadly fire to his master’s side, secured a firm grip on his clothing, and pulled him to safety. Even as he tugged and pulled, a bullet creased him from shoulder to flank. But both he and his master lived. What a brave and faithful friend Stief was!
Boys and girls, too, are wounded by sin and by Satan’s arrows on the battlefield of life. We would all have perished in our sins had it not have been for the faithful love of One who knew our danger and came to rescue us. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, laid aside His glory, and came down into this world to save sinners. He took our place upon the cross and died in our stead.
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6). He is the wonderful Saviour of all who put their trust in Him.
What would you think if Stief’s master had said to his faithful friend, “Go away, I don’t want you. Leave me alone. I’m all right.” You couldn’t think of him saying that, could you? Yet that is just what many boys and girls, and older folks too, are saying to the Lord Jesus who came to save them. They would rather go on in their sins, unmindful of their awful danger, rather than have Jesus save them. But may it not be so with you, dear reader. It is a solemn thing to live without Christ, but far worse to die without Him, and to be lost forever in the lake of fire.
Stief dragged his master to a place of safety. The Lord Jesus puts all those who trust in Him in a place of safety, too. Even now they are under the shelter of His precious blood. The judgment of God against sin can never touch them there, and before that judgment falls on this Christ-rejecting world, the Lord Jesus is coming to take His own home to heaven.
ML-06/07/1964