The Sent Servant
THE STORY OF THE SENT SERVANT
A person climbs down the ladder from his safe haven above. Why is he climbing down this ladder? Because he has been selected, told to go, it is his time, his duty and his job. He has had some training but this is his first time here. Although he takes assurance in the fact that all the others that went down before have come back to the safe haven. Even though he has been told that sometimes more than one person would emerge, it is still very scary. As he places his foot on that first rung he takes one last glimpse at this bright haven and looks down to where he must go. Down the ladder he goes toward a place that is dark, foul smelling even like a sewer. As he gets to the bottom of this long ladder he finds that it is firmly bolted to a very large and stable flat rock. It is quite difficult to see any further than a couple feet because some sort of a heavy mist-like fog is everywhere. He also knows that he must be very careful here because the mist restricts his vision and also makes the rock very slippery.
Now at the bottom of the ladder he finds a metal box marked “Toolsâ€. He opens it and starts taking out the tools. The first tool is a length rope. This is a good thing he thought. He securely tied one end around his safety belt ring and the other end around the foot of the ladder. Now even if I fall and slip I will still be safe he says aloud hoping that the sound of his own voice would somehow make him more secure. Now is a good time to look at the rest of the tools he thought. He searches in the box and all that is found is a book.
There must be some mistake, he feels. The others who had gone before him must have forgotten to return all the tools. No time to worry about that now, because he has heard someone who sounds like they are struggling in the mist somewhere over to his left. Picking up the book and slipping it into his belt he tugs on the rope one more time to make sure that it is securely fastened and starts toward that pleading voice. After several steps he feels the rope begin to tighten. He knows that he is reaching the end of the rope. As he makes one more step the rope tightens and will not allow him to go any further. But that also has turned out to be a good thing; because of the mist he has not been able to even see his feet. And as he stretched out his foot to feel what was just out of sight, he finds that he had walked within about six inches of the edge. Now he is so glad that the rope had not been any longer.
He hears the voice again and now it is very close, just below him. But the voice is very hoarse from the mist and he definitely cannot see far enough to see the struggling person. But he knows that he must get closer to save him. Tugging on the rope he finds there is no more slack and the rock has been getting slicker the closer he gets to the edge. Now it is like oil under his feet and the only holding him from going over is leaning on the rope. Getting down on his stomach and reaching over the rock as far as he could he still could not see the other person’s hand. So he told the other to wave his hand back and forth so they might be able to grasp each one another’s hand. But no avail the hands never touched. So they both came to the conclusion that there must be too much distance between them. Remembering the book he put it in his hand and told the struggling person to feel for the book. After a while they realized that they still could not reach each other. He realized that there was still some distance between them, but suddenly the idea came to him, to open the book and this will let you reach a little further. So after getting a firm grip on the opened book he yells out to the one struggling below, “reach for the book, keep reaching, have faith, grab onto this book, called The Word, and you can be saved.†After a little while he felt the book stop moving, it got solid and he could tell that weight was being applied at the other end, then in a few seconds he felt a hand grab onto his open hand. The rising up out of the awful mist and looking into each others smiling faces and with one great effort they were both now standing on the solid rock. With eyes that were unashamedly filled with tears and with great joy they hugged each other. What a beautiful sight both thought as they looked at each other. As they followed the rope back to the ladder, and after putting the only tools that had been needed back in the box for the next rescue, they both started climbing that ladder. Reaching the top and stepping out into that safe haven, what a rejoicing there was in from everyone above.
Christians are forever secured by our Savior’s strength. The rope will never break no matter how much weight is put upon it. And by following the direction God gives us in the Book we can have connection to others. Open God’s Word and learn how to please God and become a successful rescuer. Read, study, learn and present 1 Cor. 15:1-4.
