The Blanket

In 1985 my uncle was in an automobile accident that eventual cost him his life. It was like any other afternoon. He was on his way home when a young lady crossed over the medium and hit his truck on the driver’s side and pushed the truck up against the bank. I don’t know if he was hurt because of that or not, but what happened next was unbelievable. Here he was trapped in his truck and all of a sudden it burst into flames. He turns himself around, kicks the back glass out and runs down the road on fire while many just stood there and watched. There was one man there who ran and got a blanket out of the back of his car, ran him down, wrapped him in the blanket and put the fire out. As I think of that afternoon and the man who rescued my uncle in his time of need my mind goes to our every daily activities and those we come in contact with. I am reminded that there are those around you and me every day that need to be rescued. Now I can be like those watching or like the man who ran to do something to rescue the one hurting.  

John 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

How many hurting people are we around on a daily basis? They may be smiling on the outside but on the inside they are crying out for help. I remember a time in my life when on the inside I was hurting. I would go from job to job and many times I would have to pull off the road for the hurting would over take me and I couldn’t keep the tears from rolling down my face. I would gain my composure and go to the next stop. On the outside I had hid how I was really feeling on the inside. Somebody today that you and I will be around will need an encouraging word and we will have the opportunity to say something nice to them. It’s easy to find the bad in those we are around and it’s easy to say things like “what were you thinking, have you lost your mind, I expected more out of you than that, I hate to say this but you were a real disappointment to the rest of us.”

Galatians 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

We could be like those who watched my uncle as he ran down the street all a blaze and do nothing; or we can be like the man who ran with a blanket and put the fire out. You might say “really what difference did that make he died because of the fire. Well that is true but it really did make a difference and that difference was 5-days more on this earth. It drew his children to his bedside and those whom he loved and that was priceless my friend. Today instead of finding faults look for something that you can say; kind words of encouragement and uplifting to those you come in contact with. Who knows you may be just the one that God uses to put that fire out.