In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a
blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling
newspapers on the corner, the people were in
and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold
that he wasn't trying to sell many papers.
He walked
up to a policeman and said, "Mister,
you wouldn't happen to know where a poor boy
could find
a warm place to sleep tonight would
you? You
see, I sleep in a box up around the
corner
there and down the alley and it's awful
cold in
there for tonight. Sure would be nice to
have a warm
place to stay."
The policeman looked down at the little boy and
said, "You go down the street to that big white
house and
you knock on the door. When they
come out
the door you just say John 3:16, and
they will
let you in."
So he did.
He walked up the steps and knocked
on the
door, and a lady answered. He looked up
and said,
"John 3:16." The lady said, "Come on
in, Son."
She took him in and she sat him down
in a split
bottom rocker in front of a great big old
fireplace,
and she went off.
The boy sat
there for a while and thought to
himself: John 3:16....I don't understand it, but it
sure makes a cold boy warm.
Later she came back and asked him "Are you
hungry?"
He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't
eaten in a
couple of days, and I guess I could
stand a
little bit of food." The lady took him in
the kitchen
and sat him down to a table full of
wonderful
food.
He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more.
Then he thought to himself: John 3:16... Boy,
I sure
don't understand it but it sure makes a
hungry boy
full.
She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge
bathtub
filled with warm water, and he sat there
and soaked
for a while. As he soaked, he
thought to
himself: John 3:16... I sure don't
understand
it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean.
You know,
I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my
whole life.
The only bath I ever had was when I
stood in
front of that big old fire hydrant as they
flushed it
out.
The lady came in and got him. She took him to a
room,
tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled
the covers up around his neck, kissed him
goodnight and
turned out the lights. As he lay in
the
darkness and looked out the window at the
snow coming
down on that cold night, he thought
to himself:
John 3:16... I don't understand it but it
sure makes
a tired boy rested.
The next morning the lady came back up and took
him down again to that same big table full of food.
After he
ate, she took him back to that same big
old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and
picked up a
big old Bible. She sat down in front of
him and looked into his young face.
"Do you understand John 3:16?" she asked gently.
He replied, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever
heard it was last night when the policeman told me
to use it." She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and
began to explain to him about Jesus. Right there,
in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart
and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought:
John 3:16. .. .. I don't understand it, but it sure
makes a lost boy feel safe.
You know, I have to confess I don't understand
it either, how God was willing to send His Son to
die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such
a thing. I don't understand the agony of the Father
and every angel in heaven as they watched Jesus
suffer and die. I don't understand the intense love
for ME that kept Jesus on the cross till the end. I
don't understand it, but it sure does make life worth
For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.