John 3:16
WORDS FOR THE DAY: JOHN 3:16
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 out 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 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.
Author Unknown
