AT twelve o’clock one night, when all the inmates of a house were fast asleep, a loud knocking came suddenly at the door, and a voice was heard shouting, “Wake up! Wake up!”
Smoke had been seen coming out of the house, and the crackling of burning wood could be distinctly heard. There was no doubt, therefore, that the house was on fire.
Aroused by the shouting outside and made aware of the danger within, a woman appeared at one of the windows. But she was too terrified to do anything, and could only cry,
“Who will save my children? Who will save my children?”
You see, the natural love of a mother led her to think of safety for her children before seeking to secure it for herself, even while she was in danger of being burned to death. But great as her love for them surely was, yet she had not the courage to risk her life on their behalf by darting through the flames to snatch her children “from the burning.” If it was to be done at all, another must do it. And I am glad to say that another did do it; for the neighbors succeeded in getting the children, and the mother too, out by the back of the burning house, and so the lives of all were saved.
Though that mother, however great her love, did not dare to plunge into the devouring flames to save her children, the Lord Jesus Christ went right into the fire of God’s judgment upon sin; and we have now only to believe in Him in order to escape being cast into the place “where the fire is not quenched,” and where the unbelieving and unrepentant must endure “everlasting burnings.”
“Wake up! Wake up!” and put your trust in the only Saviour of sinners.
ML 12/21/1924