17/9/1966 Dianne Keidel
12-year-old Susie and 8-year-old Kelly
I just learned today about Kelly, an 8 year old girl, who showed incredible love. She saw her sister, (Lori), go back into their house that was on fire to get a cuddly toy. So she follows her sister back into the burning house.
Things only get worse from there…
Lori starts screaming as the fire burns her body. Kelly, knowing they can’t get out of the house, lies down on top of her younger sister.
She comforts her: “they are coming to help us, you will be ok. I love you. I will not leave you”
The flames start burning her back, still she remains on top of her sister, comforting her and protecting her from the flames. It doesn’t take long, the flames soon kill her. It also kills her 12 year old sister Susie.
But Lori, despite receiving third degrees burns, survives. Her testimony later includes the words “I know that I am loved”. Secure in the knowledge that her sister loved her…to the death.
Her dad? Nope, he was the one who lit the fire deliberately to kill them. 1Gene Keidel Her mum? She was already dead, murdered by the dad. The story is long, sad and complicated – so the love that Kelly showed, shined brightly…
Imagine the pain, the fire and smoke literally choking and burning. The intensity must have been incredible. The desire to move, to run, to self-preserve, must have been intense.
It reminds me of someone else who went through incredible pain and temptation: stripped of dignity and skin, bare flesh rubbing against rough wood. The only way to breath, to pull Himself up on the nails that were hammered through His wrists and feet. He had been whipped and beaten, He was naked and abandoned.
Unlike Kelly, He could get away – He had access to all the power in the universe. He could have left the cross instantly. And, unlike Kelly, He wasn’t related to the people He was dying for. He didn’t even know them – they hated Him and were doing the things He said not to. He was innocent.
For Him, the separation He went through was even worse than the physical torture. Because He took on sin, your sin and my sin, He was separated from His Father: God. The worst punishment imaginable – taken willingly by Jesus for those who even hate and ignore Him.
Like Kelly, Jesus never deserted His place of sacrifice – He followed through until He was dead. He suffered the whole time.
But unlike Kelly, Jesus had power over death and rose again – back to life! His great sacrifice can give you reason to *know* that you are loved, even more than Lori. 2That last statement might sound like a fabrication. But consider this, around 30 years later, Lori sues the City of Pheonix for negligence to the amount of US$5.5 million. Maybe it was retribution for her murdered mother and sisters more than money. But regardless, the peace and joy that Jesus gives when someone truly knows what He has done for them leaves them knowing that all injustice will be made right.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:8-11 (NLT)
Footnotes:
- 1Gene Keidel
- 2That last statement might sound like a fabrication. But consider this, around 30 years later, Lori sues the City of Pheonix for negligence to the amount of US$5.5 million. Maybe it was retribution for her murdered mother and sisters more than money. But regardless, the peace and joy that Jesus gives when someone truly knows what He has done for them leaves them knowing that all injustice will be made right.