A fine, brave man, with a medal upon his breast, called on me the other day.
“What is that medal?” I asked. “Read it,” said he; and, engraved upon the medal, I read how many persons he had saved from a fire.
A house had one night taken fire, when all the people inside it were in bed, asleep. As they slept the fire burned below the stairs, first slowly, then swiftly. Soon the flames took the staircase, and room after room, till they reached the very place where the family slept. When the poor folks awoke, they found that they could not escape, and thought they were all lost. They could do nothing to help themselves.
But the voice of the brave fireman made them take courage. He put a long ladder to the top window, and quickly mounted it. He entered the smoke-filled rooms, led some of the grown persons to the ladder, and helped them down the escape. He snatched up the little children in his arms and brought them, too, safely through the fire and smoke, and down the ladder into the street. He saved them all!
Had he not been strong, and brave, and kind, he could not have saved them. Had he not run very quickly to the burning house with his ladder, he would have been too late, and the father, mother, and poor children would have all been burned to death.
I looked at the brave fellow and thought, You are a kind, noble man. You may well be proud of that little medal which carries the names of those you have saved from the flames.
I thought of Another, who is also strong and kind, and who loves to save—even Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. Like the high priest of old, He loves to carry on His breast the names of those whom He has saved from death and hell. He saw us in all our need as sinners, and He knew we could not save ourselves, and in unspeakable love He endured the eternal fire of God’s judgment against sin, while sheltering us from it.
How safe were those little children in the arms of the fireman, but how much more safe are those who trust themselves to the Saviour’s keeping. They can sing,
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Can you sing this sweet song, dear young reader? Have you too put your soul in the safe keeping of the Saviour?
ML 12/03/1961