Years ago, a British express train was racing through the night.
Its powerful headlamp speared the fog ahead. This train was special for
it carried Britain's Queen Victoria. Suddenly, revealed in the beam of
the train's headlight, the engineer saw a figure in a black cloak. On
the middle of the tracks, he was waving his arms.
It took but a
second for the engineer to throw the brake lever, a little longer for
the train to scream to a halt. The engineer, along with the other
railroad employees, got out to find the fellow who had stopped them.
The man was gone.
They did, however, find a section of track,
which had been washed out by a swollen stream. The engineer cringed at
the thought: if the unfound man in the black cloak had not stopped them,
they would have derailed, creating a national catastrophe. Eventually,
the bridge was repaired, and the train finished its trip in London.
There, the mystery of the man in the black cloak was discovered.
At the base of the engine's headlamp was a great moth. The engineer
studied it, wet its wings, and pasted it to the glass of his lamp.
Climbing back into his cab, he switched on the lamp and saw the "phantom
flagman" in the bright beam. Seconds before the train reached the ruined
track, the moth had flown onto the lamp.
In the fog, it appeared
to be a black-cloaked man waving his arms.
Queen Victoria's
reaction to the strange occurrence? She said, "I'm sure it was no
accident. It was God's way of saving us."
I wonder, how has God
saved you?
Most certainly, we are all saved through the sacrifice
of the Savior. His gracious act wherein He carried our sins, resisted
temptation, and conquered death is the common denominator for all who
are forgiven and redeemed.
How has God saved you?
Many of
us have been saved by simple means whereby the Holy Spirit has placed
faith into our transformed hearts. How has the Lord saved you? What
delivery system did He use? Was it through the preaching of a faithful
pastor, a never-to-be-forgotten teacher, your parents, a radio or
television broadcast? Did He use a watershed moment in your life to make
plain His commitment to rescue you?
Although I don't know the
particulars of your life, I do know two things:
1. You couldn't
save yourself. No matter how hard you tried, you remained a condemned
sinner.
2. God's love for you is so great He was willing to
sacrifice His Son, so you could be adopted into His family of faith.
God's mercy and grace ... that's what saved the Queen ... it is what
saves us, too.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, without You I would have
been lost forever. For my salvation, a gracious gift which comes to me
through Jesus' sacrifice and the Holy Sprit's work, I am saved, and You
have my never-ending appreciation. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries
All rights reserved; not to be duplicated without permission.
