Ray Duffy’s wife ordered some Topshop shorts off of eBay.  She received the order in a unique package that was decorated with crude but cute drawings of some animals and birds.  Inside the package, there was also something else quite unusual: a thank you note from the seller.  Duffy’s wife showed the note to her husband; he was deeply affected by it.

"She had also written a thank you note explaining that her husband was on the [kidney] transplant waiting list, had lost his job and that now and then they would sell things they didn't need on eBay so they could buy their kids a treat,” Duffy told SWNS.  "She said that she drew the pictures [on the package] to put a smile on people's faces as they had helped her put a smile on her children's faces.”

Duffy said the note left a deep impression on him.  He wanted to help, but he didn’t know how.  “I felt so helpless,” he told SWNS.

In Scotland, where Duffy lives, more than 400 people are on the transplant list waiting for a kidney, according to Organ Donation Scotland.  The average wait for a kidney from a deceased donor is three years.  Duffy became one of over 500 people in the last 10 years who have chosen to become living donors.  Duffy and others have given their kidneys for complete strangers. *

Many may not realize it, but we ALL suffer with something that threatens our lives with death and destruction.  Our fatal condition is due to our failures, our sins.

But, thank God there is a remedy.  A complete Stranger came to our rescue.  Jesus, the Son of God, came to this earth, lived as a man, and then died on a cross for our sins (John 3:16; 1 Peter 2:24).  He was the perfect “match” for us: He was like us in His humanity but unlike us, He was sinless; only a sinless sacrifice could atone for our sins.  God “made Him who know no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Through Jesus, we may have the forgiveness of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life when we accept His offer on His terms: placing our faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turning from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessing Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, as we continue to walk in the light of His Word, He continues to cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7-9).

This complete Stranger gave His life for YOU so that YOU can live.  This complete Stranger can become your greatest Friend and even more – your Savior and your Lord – if only you will surrender your life to Him in trusting obedience.  Won’t YOU?

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from “Man donates kidney to stranger after finding note in eBay package” by Alexandria Hein of Fox News, www.foxnews.com.

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org