One sunny day as I was sweeping my front porch, the little five-year-old boy who lives next door came over, as he often does after school. He is quite a rascal and speaks only poor English. Even though I am a mother of three children, he always calls me “sir.” But that sunny day in September it was not his poor English that surprised me. He said boldly, “Sir, you are going to die. Want me to tell you why? Because of the thing that’s coming!” With no more explanation than that he ran off to play with his friends and left me wondering what the “thing” might be.
It was not long before I found out. Soon the whole town was talking about it, and it was not a joke. The “thing” was a dangerous hurricane. The weather forecasters had named it Hurricane Gilbert, and already many people had died and many millions of dollars of damage had been done as it passed over islands on its path towards the coast of Texas. The weather forecasters gave warnings to all the people who lived along the Gulf of Mexico, saying that Hurricane Gilbert was one of the strongest storms ever measured. Its winds were blowing at 200 miles per hour!
Our neighbors were quite worried, and the whole town began to make preparations. Some people nailed plywood over their windows to protect them. Others used yards and yards of tape on their windows to keep them from shattering. Because people were stocking up on food, the bread and milk shelves of the grocery stores were soon completely empty. Schools were let out early so children could reach home before the storm hit. Refuge centers were planned. Almost everyone who lived along the coast closed up their home and drove inland where it would be safer.
Those of us who took the weather-men’s warnings seriously and prepared for it were shocked to hear of some who did not. One man on South Padre Island refused to leave. He said, “I just earned $600 nailing up plywood for people, and I want to be here to take it down for them.” Some others were reported to have actually been out surfing. They were enjoying the unusually high waves and were more interested in having fun than in getting away from the danger. These people seemed very foolish to us as the hurricane headed our way.
Would you unwisely ignore a warning like this? What about God’s serious warning of judgment that will come to those who die in their sins? The Bible tells us that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)). God in His love has made a way of escape from this storm of judgment. He sent His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, to suffer and to die on the cross of Calvary to pay the penalty our sins deserved. “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 3:1616For 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)). How sad that not just a few, but many are ignoring both God’s serious warning and His loving plan for salvation. Are you?
The one man about whom I told you did not look for a safe place from the storm because he wanted to make money. The others ignored the warnings because they wanted to have fun. Has money or having a good time kept you boys and girls from being saved from the punishment for your sins? Have you found safety and the forgiveness of your sins in the Lord Jesus? The Bible warns, “Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:1212Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. (Amos 4:12)). “Flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:77But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:7)).
ML-10/15/1995