On December 7, 1988, an earthquake
devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing an estimated
30,000 persons. In one small town, directly after the earthquake, a
father rushed to his son's school only to find that the school had been
flattened and there was no sign of life.
But he had no
thought of turning back. He had often told his son, “No matter what,
I'll always be there for you when you need me!”
Though the
prospects appeared hopeless, he began feverishly removing rubble from
where he believed his son's classroom had been. Other forlorn parents
only wailed hopelessly. “My son!” “My daughter!” Some told the father to
go home, that there was no chance that any of the students could be
alive. To which this loving father replied, “I made my son a promise
that I'd be there for him anytime he needed me. I must continue to dig.”
Courageously, he
proceeded alone. No one volunteered to help him. He simply had to know
for himself: “Is my boy alive or is he dead?”
With strength and
endurance beyond himself, the faithful, loving father continued to
dig... for 8 hours... for 12 hours... 24 hours... 36 hours. Then in the
38th hour, as he heaved away a heavy piece of rubble, he heard voices. “Armand!”
he screamed.
A child's voice
responded: “Dad! It's me,... Armand!” Then the boy said, “I told the
other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save
me, and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised you would
always be there for me! You did it, Dad!”
Moments later,
the dad was helping his son Armand and 13 other frightened, hungry,
thirsty boys and girls climb out of the debris. Free at last! When the
building collapsed, these children had been spared in a tent-like
pocket.
When the
townspeople praised Armand's dad, his explanation was, “I promised my
son, ‘No matter what, I'll be there for you!’” *
This incident,
which is reportedly true from several sources, illustrates the love of
God for each one of us. In need of a Savior because we are covered in
the rubble of sin (Romans 3:23; 6:23), God didn’t give up on us. He
sent His Son to save us.
“For God so loved
the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).
“For the Son of
Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
In order to save
us, Jesus had to give His life on the cross as payment for our sins (1
Peter 1:18-19). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”
(Ephesians 1:7).
God will save and give eternal life to those who
place their faith
and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from
their sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31),
confess Jesus
before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are
baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin
those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
Jesus also
promised that one day, He will come back and take God’s children home
with Him to heaven (John 14:1-3).
Rest assured: God
keeps His promises. Won’t you trust Him and entrust your life to Him by
accepting His offer of salvation and eternal life?
--
David A. Sargent
*
Information gleaned from several sources including
www.armenianweekly.com and www.vietchristian.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
Please
visit our Web site AND share a drink of Living
Water with a friend!
Searching
For Truth??? Learn more about God and His will for your life!
Download Searching
For Truth
videos. They're
FREE
-- visit: www.searchingfortruth.org
To Subscribe
to Living Water, simply Click-n-Send an e-mail
to:
HTML (graphics) version: Subscribe-html
TEXT version: Subscribe-text
Follow
this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com
If you received
this transmission in error or want to leave
Living Water just Click-n-Send to unsubscribe.
