This will give you Goosebumps
no matter how many times you've read it!
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 the 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 would he 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 yet he could not bear the thought of his son's
friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore,
he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend.
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 stated one of them, "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 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 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."
Work in your life for doing the thing that you know he
loves.