From the Depths

By David A. Sargent       A 12-year-old boy in Marysville, Washington, was enjoying recess when suddenly his life was in danger.  He was standing on the concrete lid of a well when the concrete crumbled beneath him, and he fell 20 feet into the well.  Firefighters from the Marysville Fire District were called in for the rescue.  They found the boy clinging to a plastic pipe which kept him above the water line.     The firefighters removed the remaining concrete and lowered a long ladder into the well.  The boy was able to climb up the ladder to safety.  He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for lacerations on his head.  He is expected to recover fully. *     Because of our sins, we are a lot like that boy in the well with no hope of surviving unless there is outside intervention.  Our salvation from sin requires divine intervention, for only He can save us from our predicament.     Our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), but God loves us anyway.  He loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to rescue us (John 3:16).  To save us from sin, Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins (Ephesians 1:7).  “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV).  “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).     God will save from sin and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).     Jesus is the Ladder to heaven.  Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).  We must be willing to “cling to the Ladder” in trusting obedience in order to be saved.  Won’t YOU?   * Information gleaned from “Washington state firefighters rescue 12-year-old boy who fell 20 feet down well” by Stephen Sorace of Fox News, www.foxnews.com.

- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled "Living Water." To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org