god loved – and he gave!
Missionary-Evangelist Esther
Thornton
"God so loved the world that He gave"... He not only
gave some, but He gave ALL! He is calling us to be willing to surrender
all for His purpose and call.
I have a story to tell you of sacrifice
and what a story it is!
After a few of the usual Sunday evening
hymns, the church’s pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and,
before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister
who was in the service that evening.
In the introduction, the pastor told
the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood
friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and
share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service.
With that, an elderly man stepped up to
the pulpit and began to speak:
“A father, his son, and a friend of his
son were sailing off the Pacific Coast,” he began, “when a fast approaching
storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that
even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat
upright, and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.”
The old man hesitated for a moment,
making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the
service began, looking somewhat interested in his story.
The aged minister continued with his
story:
“Grabbing a rescue line, the father had
to make the most excruciating decision of his life - to which boy he would
throw the other end of the life line. He only had seconds to make the decision.
The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s
friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent
of waves.
“As the father yelled out, “I love you,
son!” he threw out the life line to his son’s friend. By the time the father
had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared
beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never
recovered.”
By this time, the two teenagers were
sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come
out of the old minister’s mouth.
“The father,” he continued, “knew his
son would step into eternity with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of
his son’s friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus.
How great is the love of God that He
should do the same for us. Our heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten Son
that we could be saved. I urge you to accept His offer to rescue you and take a
hold of the life line He is throwing out to you in this service.”
With that, the old man turned and sat
back down in his chair, as silence filled the room.
The pastor again walked slowly to the
pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no
one responded to the appeal.
Within minutes after the service ended,
the two teenagers were at the old man’s side.
“That was a nice story,” politely
started one of the boys, “but I don’t think it was very realistic for a father
to give up his only son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a
Christian.”
“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the
old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his
narrow face, and he once again looked up at the boys and said, “It sure isn’t
very realistic, is it? But I’m standing here today to tell you that THAT story
gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His Son
for me.
You see... I was that father and your
pastor is my son’s friend.”
* * *
May God bless you today and give each
one of us a heart like the Father.
With Love In Him,
Esther
Global Evangelism
Fellowship – Clatskanie.com/gef
