In the
city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A
little boy was selling newspapers on the corner; the people were in
and out
of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to
sell many
papers. He walked up to a policeman and said, "Mister, you
wouldn't happen
to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight
would you?
You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and down the
alley and
it's awful cold in there, of a night.
Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay."
The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "You go
down the
street to that big, white house and you knock on the door. When they
come to
the door you just say John 3:16 and they will let you in."
So he did, he walked up the steps to the door, and knocked on the
door and a
lady answered. He looked up and said, "John 3:16."
The lady said "Come on in, Son." She took him in and she
sat him down in a
split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace and she
went off.
He sat there for a while, and thought to himself "John 3:16. I
don't
understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm."
Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry?"
He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of
days and I
guess I could stand a little bit of food."
The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of
wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more. Then
he
thought to himself "John 3:16. Boy, I sure don't understand it,
but it sure
makes a hungry boy full."
She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with
warm water
and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to
himself, "John 3:16. I sure don't understand it, but it sure
makes a dirty
boy clean. You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole
life. The
only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old fire
hydrant
as they flushed it out."
The lady came in and got him, and took him to a room and tucked him
into a
big old feather bed and pulled the covers up around his neck and
kissed him
goodnight and turned out the lights. As he laid in the darkness and
looked
out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night he thought
to
himself, "John 3:16. I don't understand it, but it sure makes a
tired boy
rested."
The next morning she came back up and took him down again to that
same big
table full of food. After he ate she took him back to that same big
old
split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and she took a big old
Bible
and sat down in front of him and she looked up at and she asked,
"Do you
understand John 3:16?"
He said, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it
was last night
when the policeman told me to use it."
She opened the Bible to John 3:16, and she began to explain to him
about
Jesus. Right there in front of that big old fireplace he gave his
heart and
life to Jesus. He sat there and thought, "John 3:16. I don't
understand it,
but it but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe."
You know, I have to confess I don't understand it either, how God
would be
willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to
do such
a thing. I don't understand it either, but it sure does make life
worth
living.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten
Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting
life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but
that the
world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed
in The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God. John 3:17-18
In His Love and Service,
Bill Dorman (John 13:34-35) |
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