NO GREATER LOVE

Found this amazing true story....

If you ever need a reminder of how much God loves you and that He sacrificed His Son for you, this story will be a great reminder.

After a few hymns, the pastor stood up and introduced a guest speaker.  With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit to speak.

“Three people boarded a boat : a father, his son and the son’s friend.  They were sailing off the Pacific Coast,” he began.  “Then a fast-approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore.  The waves were so high that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept off the boat and into the ocean”.

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who looked somewhat interested in his story.  He continued, “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life.  Which boy should he throw the other end of the line to?  He only had seconds to make the decision.  The father knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son’s friend definitely was not.  The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves.  As the father yelled out, “I love you, son!”  he threw the line to his son’s friend.  By the time he pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beyond the raging swells into the black of night.  His body was never recovered”.

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting straighter in the pew, waiting for the next words to come out of the old man’s mouth.

“The father”, he continued, “knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus.  He could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into an eternity in hell.  Therefore, he sacrificed his own son.  How great is the love of God that He should do the same for us”.

With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room.  After the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side.  “That was a nice story”, politely started one of the boys, “but I don’t think it was very realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hope that the other boy would become a Christian”.

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible.  A big smile broadened his narrow face, and he once again looked up at the boys and said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it?  But I’m standing here today to tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His Son for me.  You see…..I was the son’s friend to whom the father tossed a rescue line”.

Imagine yourself being in the place of the father in this story and of our heavenly Father in the Bible.  How would you feel if you had to sacrifice your own child so that someone else could live?

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13