Craig Clouston

Snatched From Death

…save others by snatching them from the fire…

Jude 1:23

“Hey Dad! Is Mom there with you?” Eric sounded somewhat breathless.

“Yep, we’re both here,” Dad responded.

“Put me on speaker phone. I gotta share what just happened!” he said.

Activating the ‘Speaker’ button, dad said, “Okay, Mom and I are both listening…”

“It was so cool!” Eric began. “I just saved somebody’s life!”

“What?! How?!” they asked in unison.

“I was standing on the corner waiting for the light to change when this older woman stepped off the curb and took two steps into traffic,” the excitement and emotion in his voice was evident.

Mom and Dad looked at each other as Dad prompted their son to continue, “Okay…?”

“There was a car coming, and it wasn’t slowing down! There was no way it was going to be able to stop!” Eric’s voice was trembling.

Adrenaline’s still pumping! Dad smiled.

“Without thinking,” Eric went on, “I stepped into the street, reached out, grabbed her and jumped back to the sidewalk just as the car swept by! I had to hold on to her to keep her from falling!”

“That’s incredible!” Mom said. “Thank You, Jesus!” they both echoed. “What did the lady do?” Dad asked.

“She turned around and hugged me like she was never gonna let me go, shouting, ‘You saved my life! You saved my life! You snatched me from certain death!’” Eric ended his account with, “It was awesome!”

†

Secretly, we all hope and pray we would be able to respond as Eric did if faced with these same circumstances. The truth is…most of us will never be put to the test.

Today’s text, however, exhorts us, at any given moment and without warning, to be prepared to snatch people from the spiritual fires of eternal death. It should be, as Eric’s actions were, instinctive on our part. Having encountered someone who has wandered into spiritual traffic our response should be decisive, immediate, and without hesitation.

The danger is real, and imminent. And we should always be prepared to take action; because if we’re not, we could miss the chance to snatch someone from the flames of eternal damnation.

Prayer

“Holy Spirit, give me discernment to see those who have stepped into spiritual traffic. Then give me courage to snatch them from the fires of spiritual death by introducing them to Jesus. It’s in His Name I pray, amen.”