Every boy and girl has heard the story of Noah’s ark. And perhaps some boys and girls have seen a flood too. I don’t mean a big flood like in Noah’s day, but a flood that makes the river near your home flow over its banks. When I was a boy, the Rideau River near our home used to flood every spring, and we always considered it great fun to watch the swirling waters carrying along huge chunks of ice.
A friend of mine that lives in England wrote to tell me of a terrible flood that swept through the little town of Lynmouth. It was in the month of August, and many visitors were enjoying the beautiful little town. But the sun doesn’t shine every day, even in England, and one day it rained and rained and rained. By evening the rain had stopped, and many of the visitors came down to High Street to see the river rushing headlong to the sea. Higher and higher the water rose. Many were the worried faces, and then all at once the lights went out. Soon the roaring rising water burst open doors and windows, and rapidly swept all before it. Even huge trees were soon being carried along by the torrent.
What would you have done? Many boys and girls, and fathers and mothers crouched in fear in their homes. How they wished for a safe shelter, but none could be found!
All through the night the roar of the waters and the crashing of houses echoed through the town, telling its sorrowful tale of souls being swept into eternity.
When the sun rose on Lynmouth, it was a sad town. The waters were going down rapidly, but the whole course of the river was altered and many whole houses were missing. Fathers and mothers, boys and girls, who were healthy and happy a day before, were gone—where? They were in eternity!
That little river had flowed through Lynmouth for centuries, and had caused no trouble. So it is, I fear, with many who read this paper. God has given you many blessings, and yet I am sure you have been warned too, of coming judgment. All those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, will meet the awful judgment of God, and it will be too late then to take shelter.
The only place of shelter to be found is in Christ, and the time is now. When that storm breaks, there will be no shelter at hand.
ML 05/10/1953