"SURE MAKES A BOY......"

In the city of Chicago one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A young boy about 12 was selling newspapers on the corner. While people were in and out of the cold, the young boy thought to himself it would be nice to have a warm place to sleep. The young boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell many papers. He got the courage to walk up to a policeman on his break getting a hot cup of coffee from a street corner vendor across the street.

The young boy asked the policeman, "Mister, you wouldn't happen to know where a poor young 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, at 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 three blocks to that big white house on the right 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 when the newsstand owner returned to closed the stand the young boy  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." 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 but I’m just happy to be out of the cold."

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 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 told him he would have to bathe before going to bed. He told the kind lady, “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 a big, old fire hydrant as they flushed it out”. As the young boy soaked in the warn bath he thought to himself, “John 3:16... I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean."

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 of 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 peaceful and 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 him 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 to get out of the cold."

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 young lost boy feel safe and at peace."

The lady replied to the young boy, “I have to confess, I don't understand it all myself why God would be willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing, but it sure does make life worth living."

John 3:16 states; "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Jesus stated this simple fact of how to obtain victory over death in his witnessing to Nicodemus with John observing. However, Nicodemus who didn’t understand it all either would meet secretly with Jesus at night to learn as much as possible. (John 19:39).

Jesus was on a “rescue mission” to save a lost and carnal world from eternal death. While we may not understand it all we know we need rescued from our sinful nature. We understand we can only be rescued from the second death by trusting in Jesus. (Revelation 2:11).

Heavenly Father, thank You for providing a way we can be forgiven of our sinful nature and receive victory over death. Thank You for loving us so much, You gave Your Son so we could be with You forever. Lord, as the old gospel song goes, “let us be ready so we can walk in Jerusalem just like John."