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Themes: "Christ the Judge, Christ the Savior SS On a cold November night in 1992, Tom Spiewak was busy robbing a Speedway gas station in Calumet City, IL. The gas station manager set off the burglar alarm. Two police officers, Eric Graf and Tim Smith, took up the call and began to chase the burglar.
Tim Smith chased the car at speeds at over 75 miles per hour through the town until the burglar crashed into an apartment building. He jumped out of his car and ran through the apartments to the edge of a lake. Since both police officers were close behind, Tom jumped into the lake and began to swim.
Tom swam to the middle of the frigid lake and floated on his back for more than 15 minutes. But then he began to have trouble in the freezing water.
"The guy was going down, and I couldn't just stand there and watch him die... so I climbed over a fence and grabbed a paddle boat," officer Graf said. Since the oars were frozen to the boat, he grabbed a board from a nearby picnic table and used it as his oar. Eric paddled out to where Tom was sinking. "All I could see was the guy's nose and mouth and his left hand sticking up. He couldn't move. He was just saying,"Help me," Eric said. Eric said he persuaded Tom to show him his right hand to make sure he did not have a gun. "I asked him; "Do you want to die?" And he showed me his hand and I grabbed it." From then on Eric held firmly onto Tom's hand to keep his head above the water. Officer Smith waded out as far as he could to help the men back to shore.
In the meantime, the makeshift oar had slipped away. The boat began drifting toward the center of the lake, away from shore and help. "It was pitch black. The water was freezing, and the only light we had was a flashlight coming from shore. It was scary, probably the scariest thing I've ever experienced," said officer Eric.
When Eric reached for his friend's hand he fell into the water. But he did not let go of the helpless burglar. The three men were helped ashore by another police officer who had just arrived at the scene. Paramedics rushed Tom to the hospital just in time to save him from freezing to death.
TOM's JUDGE TURNED OUT TO BE A SAVIOR. THE JUDGE AGAINST YOUR SIN ALSO HAS TURNED OUT TO BE YOUR ONLY HOPE OF SALVATION. When Jesus was arrested, he could have killed all of his enemies. Instead, he willingly took care of them. He was the gentle savior.
A day is coming when the Lord Jesus will judge the world (Acts 17:31). Now He is the Savior of the world (John 4:42). The choice is yours. By giving up, like Tom Spiewak did, you can have Him as your Savior and not as your judge.
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Shelly McKenna
