Get in the Pickup
The old pickup thumped, rocked, and wallowed up the heavily rutted dirt road, making a wide-eyed, 10 year old Dougg hang on for dear life. His 20 year old cousin Tony eased the truck up the hill slowly, not wanting a breakdown far from anything. They were checking the windmills on a very windy day, making sure water was pumping for the cattle that were enduring a hot, dry summer. Hanging out with his cousin on his vast family ranch for a couple weeks each summer was a highlight for Dougg. The ranch was north of Thedford, in the rolling sandhills of Nebraska.
As they crested the top of the hill, the wind howling, they could see and smell smoke. Climbing out of the pickup, Tony spotted the fire. A fast moving grass fire, driven by the wind, was screaming up the hill right at them. The old pickup had no chance of outrunning it. While Dougg considered running for his life, Tony grabbed a gasoline can and poured it on the tall grass behind the pickup. He ignited it, sending more smoke and flames into the air, blowing directly away from them. Meanwhile, the fire coming up the hill was closing in on them. “Dougg, get in the pickup!” Tony yelled. By now, the roar of the oncoming fire made it hard to hear. “DOUGG!! GET. IN. THE. PICKUP!!!” Dougg scrambled in, and rolled up the windows. The smoke enveloped them. Tony waited as long as he could for the flames behind them to ebb, and at the very last second backed the pickup onto the patch of burned ground behind them, the embers still glowing. Almost immediately, the oncoming fire crested the hill, and went right around them, on both sides. The ground the pickup sat on was already burned, and provided no fuel for the raging fire. Dougg and Tony’s lives were saved that day because they moved to the safest place they could be in that fire.
The Bible tells us that God will one day judge the world. His judgment will fall. The safest place to be when that day comes is where His judgment has already fallen. It fell on Jesus, who bore our sin and died a brutal death on the cross. For those in Christ, there is no fear of judgment, because Jesus took it on Himself. Paul charged Timothy “before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.” (2Tim.4:1) Peter wrote of those not believing in Christ, that “They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Pet.4:5)
A loving, patient, just God will one day judge the world. When that day comes, there is only one place to be. In the pickup. In Christ, who took our judgment. The one who believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life. It is only faith in Jesus Christ that saves one from the inevitable judgment of God. Please, please, get in the pickup.
Thank you to Dougg Custer, for a harrowing childhood memory
