Memory Verse: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
Eight-year-old Kevin squirmed with delight as he heard his good-friend Carol promise that he could spend Friday night and Saturday at her apartment on the beautiful, modern college campus where she had just enrolled. Carol was eager to show the modern buildings and grounds of the school to Kevin’s family who always cared so much about how she was getting along.
Finally Friday afternoon rolled around. The guests had arrived and enjoyed a tour of the campus and Carol’s warm hospitality. Goodbyes were said, and at last Kevin had Carol all to himself. He happily ran here and there over the lawns just like a young colt, jumping over anything in his path. A friendly voice called to Carol from a window above, and she stopped to chat. Hardly a moment or two had passed when a sense of urgency caused her to remember Kevin. Whirling around, she saw him... in the act of running up a slope to jump over a little wall at the top. But on the other side there was an 18-foot drop to the street below!
“KEVIN, STOP!” she shouted the order!
Do you always obey when you are given a command? Would Kevin be like some boys and girls we know who first do what they want and then ask “Why?” or “Who said so?” Had he been such a boy, he could have been seriously injured. Kevin, however, had learned to obey. Skidding to a stop just this side of the wall, he turned questioning eyes to Carol.
Running over to him with a face drained of color, she scooped him into her arms exclaiming, “Oh, Kevin! Thank you for obeying me!” When he saw what was on the other side of the wall, it was Kevin’s turn to say, “thank-you.”
Of course, we expected Carol to stop her young friend, even though she had to speak sharply. Suppose you had a friend who saw you in serious danger but refused to say anything for fear of upsetting you or “butting into your business.” “No friend of mine!” you’d say.
Now before you put this paper down, PLEASE STOP! You are about to be warned of certain disaster ahead — on the “other side.” “The other side of what?” you ask. The other side of time, of life on planet Earth. Do not continue to refuse the message God has sent to us concerning our future, our sins and life after death. Clearly in God’s Word, the Bible, we read, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23). But, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31).
ML-01/06/1985