Last Sunday I shared with you how on the night of Jesus’ last supper with his disciple, after they had finished the meal, they all sang a hymn before going out to the Garden of Gethsemane. And I shared with you a few hymns we could have chosen. One hymn would be “Amazing Grace”, and oh, how amazing is God’s grace to bring us salvation when all we deserve is the punishment of the cross? But in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the Just for the unjust, that we might share a home with Him in heaven. We could have chosen “Nothing But The Blood” because it took the shed blood of the Lamb of God to wash away our sins and bring us into His presence. But there are other hymns we could have chosen. Perhaps we might have chosen, “Just When I Need Him Most”? “Just when I need Him, Jesus is near, Just when I falter, just when I fear; Ready to help me, ready to cheer, Just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him most, Just when I need Him most; Jesus is near, to comfort and cheer, Just when I need Him most.” You know, life is sometimes lonely and often full of trials and turmoil, but just the time you need Jesus the most, He is always near. Most of you know that I was a prison chaplain for TDC, and sometimes I would allow an inmate to bring a message to the congregation. (And yes, I know. It was always a “captive congregation!) But these inmates would be among those that I had taught and in whom I perceived to be leaders among their fellow inmates, leaders with a good reputation, you know. Yes, there are those in the prison setting who are spiritual leaders among men. But often I would hear one of these “preachers” say, “God is never early, He is never late. He is an “on-time God”, He shows up just when we need Him the most.”
Maybe this would be your song, God is never early, He is never late, He is an on-time God and He shows up just when you need Him most! Maybe your song would be, “Saved, Saved!” “I’ve found a friend who is all to me, His love is ever true; I love to tell how He lifted me, And what His grace can do for you! Saved, by His Power Divine. Saved, to New Life Sublime! Life now is sweet and my joy is complete, For I’m Saved, Saved, Saved!” I saw the old time television show, “Leave It To Beaver,” where the Beaver and some friends had gone out tent camping one night. Of course Wally came along as the “wise old camper”, and he brought along his friend, Eddie, who was always causing trouble. Well, living up to his name, Eddie had led the boys out on a hike, and seeing a small cliff just big enough for him, he acted like he had fallen off the cliff and to his doom below. But when the boys looked over the cliff, scared to death, there was Eddie, laughing at how he had fooled them into thinking that he had fallen to his death below. But the problem was that he couldn’t get back up the mountain. So he asked the boys to throw down a rope. However, their rope was too short to rescue him, so they wound up laughing at him and mocking him for being so dumb! Finally Wally found a park ranger who then threw a longer rope down to Eddie and told him to tie it about his arms so he could pull him up. When he got Eddie back up, he lit into him telling him how foolish and stupid he had been for pulling such a stunt.
But, wait a minute, does that really sound that foolish and stupid? How many times have we done foolish stuff that got us into trouble, maybe in a relationship, or maybe financially, or maybe something just plain old stupid? Aren’t you glad that we have a friend who is truly a friend, one that rescues us from all our trials and through our storms? Isn’t that what He does for us? He saves us not just from our sins, but also from the troubles of our lives. Yes, I’m saved by His power divine, saved to new life sublime. Life now is sweet and my joy is complete, for I’m saved, saved, saved!
