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 her 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 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.
John 3:16 - 18
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. 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
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. 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
-- Author Unknown
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