On a cold winter day, a young boy was selling newspapers on a street corner. It was so cold that he wasn’t trying to sell many papers. He walked up to a policeman and asked if he knew of a warm place where he could sleep for the night. When the policeman asked why, the young boy informed him that he slept in a cardboard box down the alley. “It would be awfully cold in there tonight; it sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay.” The policeman told him to go down the street to a particular house, knock on the door, and when the lady answered to say, “John 3:16” and she would let him in.
The young lad followed the policeman’s instructions. When a lady came to the door he looked up and said, “John 3:16” and the lady said, “Come on in.” She took him to the den and sat him in front of a great big fireplace and went to another part of the house. The lad 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 the lady came back and directed him to a table full of wonderful food. Hungry from not eating for a couple of days, he ate and ate until he couldn’t hold any more. He thought to himself, “John 3:16 … I don’t understand it but it sure makes a hungry boy full.”
The lady then took him upstairs to a bathtub filled with warm water and soap suds. After soaking for a while, he thought to himself, “John 3:16 … I don’t understand it but it sure makes a dirty boy clean.” After his bath, the lady took him to a big feather bed and tucked him in for the night. As he lay there in the darkness and looked at the snow falling outside the window, he thought to himself, “John 3:16 … I don’t understand it but it sure makes a tired boy rested.”
The next morning, the lady took him once again to a table filled with food. After breakfast, she then took him back to the room with the big fireplace and picked up a big Bible. Sitting in front of him, she asked, “Do you understand John 3:16?” He replied, “No ma’am I don’t. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it.” The lady opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain the love and God and work of Jesus. Right there, the young lad gave his life to Jesus. As he sat there he thought, “John 3:16 … I don’t understand it but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.”
Contemplating on the preceding story, I still have difficulty understanding how a holy God was willing to send his Son to a sinful world to die for me. I still don’t understand the love that would keep him on that cross. I still don’t understand the grace that is continually extended to me when I fail him so often. I must confess I don’t fully understand it …but I certainly do accept it and believe it. In so doing, I have found it makes all the difference in the world … it makes life worth living.
“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.”
To His Glory,
Pastor Bill