No Clotheslines Here

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” —John 5:24, NIV.

My mother used to tie me to the clothesline. No, she didn’t tie me with clothesline, she simply attached my harness to the clothesline. This allowed me the freedom of the backyard and kept me from wandering out to the street. If she could have trusted me to stay in the yard I’m sure we could have done well without the harness or the clothesline; but she couldn’t. I was a wanderer. I know that because the story is told of the first (and last) time mom gave me the freedom of the yard and I ended up in the middle of the street in front of our house. The only thing—humanly speaking—that saved me from certain death was the quick action of my big brother who rushed out and hauled me back to the safety of the sidewalk.

He crossed me over from “death to life” in the physical sense.

I thought about that incident as I read the verse for this morning from John 5. Someone else not only risked His life, but gave His life, to cross me over from death to life.

His name is Jesus.

And the neatest thing of all is that this salvation, this life, is so secure that He doesn’t have to tie me to a clothesline to guarantee that I won’t go out into the street of death again.

The life is eternal. I’m safe forever, as are all those who believe. Praise the Lord!