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Themes: "Opportunity, Gift of God needs to be Accepted JD "Attention all fireman! There is a fire at 36th St. and Park Ave. All units respond!"
As the voice of the central dispatcher gave the command, sirens blared through the city. Firemen raced to the Fire Station. Quickly, they slipped on their boots, coats and hats. The garage door rolled up. The driver started the big engine as the men jumped on the truck. Lights flashed and sirens wailed as the big red truck zoomed through the city streets.
When they arrived, flames were shooting out the first floor windows. Thick smoke billowed from the basement and up the sides of the five-story building.
"The fire is spreading quickly. Units one and two, you work on the back of the building. Three and four, operate the ladder and spray the upper floors to keep them from catching fire. Unit five..." The fire chief barked out orders and the men hurried into action.
Big flood lights on an auxiliary truck were turned on to help the fireman see. The first thing they looked for was people in the building. They could see several people at the windows hoping and praying someone would come get them.
Immediately the firemen swung big ladders up the sides of the building and scampered up to carry people down.
They could see a woman screaming for help on the fourth floor. A short, burly fireman scaled the ladder. When he came to the window, he could see the woman was alone.
The fireman began to yell, "Come right to the edge of the window and climb on my back. I'll save you!"
The woman looked beyond the fireman forty feet down to the ground. Wide eyed, she began to step back.
The fireman pleaded, "C'mon lady, you have got to let me help you. I have saved others and I can save you. Trust me!"
Her eyes darkened with horror as she stepped back again. Smoke and flames began to fill the room. The fireman tried one last time, "Please lady," he screamed. "You have got to let me help you. You're going to die if you don't come now!"
The woman looked at him. Her eyes darted to the long ladder reaching to the ground. Slowly, she stepped back into the smoke and disappeared. The fireman fought back tears as he trudged down the ladder.
At the bottom, the men of his unit surrounded him. He sobbed as the sight of the woman backing away was etched in his mind forever. The other men heard him cry, "I did everything I could to save her, but she wouldn't let me." The woman had a chance to be saved, but she missed it.
This is sad. However, a greater tragedy is when people hear the gospel about the Lord Jesus and then back away and are never saved. It is far more important that you be saved from the flames of Hell than the flames of a building. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). He came so He could save you. Now, you have an opportunity to be saved. If you refuse to trust Him "How shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation" (Hebrews 2:2)?
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Shelly McKenna
