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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 for
tonight. 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 and knocked on the do! or, 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. The boy 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 ma! kes
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. She took him to a room, tucked him into a big old feather bed,
pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned out the
lights. As
he lay 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 the lady 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 picked up a big old Bible. She sat down in
front of him and looked into his young face.
"Do you
understand John 3:16?" she asked gently. He replied, "No, Ma'am, I
don't. The first time I ever heard i! t was last night when the policeman told
me to use it." She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and 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 was willing to send His Son to die
for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don't understand the
agony of the Father and every angel in heaven as they watched Jesus suffer and
die. I don't understand the intense love for ME that kept Jesus on the cross
till the end. I don't understand it, 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.
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