Good Story

A pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave
his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was
in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the
congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood
friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church
and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With
that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.

"A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific
coast," he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to
get back to the 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 into the ocean as the boat capsized." The old man
hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were,
for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested
in his story.

The aged minister continued with his story, "Grabbing a rescue line, the
father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: To which
boy he would throw the other end of the life line.
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 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 out the lifeline
to his son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back
to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells
into the black of night. His body was never recovered."
By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew,
anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old man. He
continued, "the father knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus
and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an
eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the
son's friend. How great is the love of God that he should do the same
for us. Our heavenly father sacrificed his only begotten son that we
could be saved. I urge you to accept his offer to rescue you and take a
hold of the life line he is throwing out to you in this service."

With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence
filled the room. The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and
delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one
responded to the appeal.

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the
old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely stated one of the
boys, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up
his only son's life in hopes 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 as 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 that father and your pastor is my son's friend."