Mr. and Mrs. Finn had spent the last two years remodeling their home. They were just six days away from being finished with this big project. But it was not to be finished in six days as they had planned.
The Finns certainly were not expecting a fire to nearly burn down their home while they were sleeping in it! We don’t know if they had ever read a verse in the Bible that tells us, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:11Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)). And another verse says, “Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:1414Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)).
Mr. Finn had worked the night shift at his job and had gone straight home and gone to bed. About 30 minutes later, he was awakened by the sound of furious scratching on their bedroom door. Knowing that something wasn’t quite right, he got up to check it out.
Opening the bedroom door, he saw that their house was on fire! He quickly scooped up Rabbit (which was their pet rabbit’s name) that had been the frantic little door scratcher, and Mr. and Mrs. Finn were able to make their escape out of the house.
Neighbors helped them fight the fire until four fire trucks arrived to put out the blaze. Thankfully, the three were all unharmed, even though Rabbit had been breathing in smoke for probably 30 minutes. Rabbit must have been a very healthy animal to be able to do that without any problem afterwards.
Mrs. Finn realized that Rabbit had saved their lives, since they probably would have awakened much later if Rabbit hadn’t kept scratching on their bedroom door. Investigators believe that a heater may have caused the fire. But why didn’t the smoke detectors sound an alarm to warn them?
During their house remodeling, they had removed the smoke alarms so they could paint the ceilings. But the Fire Brigade’s commander had this warning for everyone. “The lesson to learn from this is that even if a smoke alarm is removed, it can still be put up on a high shelf. Remodeling should never be a hindrance to fire safety!”
Removing the smoke alarms was not a wise decision. Smoke alarms would have awakened them much sooner, preventing any serious fire damage to their home or risking their lives as well as Rabbit’s.
God, who loves us, has also faithfully warned us of soon-coming judgment of fire. If we die or if the Lord Jesus comes for His own, those who have rejected the Lord Jesus as their Savior will end up in the lake of fire. The Bible says in John 3:1818He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18), “He that believeth not is condemned already.” None of us can count on tomorrow being “just another day.” This is why we need to receive Him as our Savior right now!
God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to bleed and die on Calvary’s cross to take the punishment we deserve for our sins. When we ask Him to forgive us from our sins, He promises that He will. He also promises to give us “eternal life” and that we will never perish. “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)).
Make a wise decision today and listen to God’s warning. Tell Jesus you are sorry for your sins and trust in Him for your soul’s salvation. Then you can know that no matter what happens, you will be safe in heaven with Jesus forever!
ML-05/13/2018