John 3:16

In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner, while other people were in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell many papers. He walked up to a policeman and said, "Mister, you wouldn't happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would you? You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and down the alley, and it's awful cold in there at night. It sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay."

The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "You go down the street to that big white house and you knock on the door. When they open the door you just say 'John 3:16' and they will let you in."

So the boy walked up the steps to the door, and knocked on the door and a lady answered. The little boy looked up and said, "John 3:16."

The lady said "Come on in, Son." She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace and she went off. He sat there for a while, and thought to himself "John 3:16... I don't understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy feel warm."

Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry?"

He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of days and guess I could stand a little bit of food."

The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more. Then he thought to himself "John 3:16... Boy, I sure I don't understand it, but it sure makes a hungry boy feel full."

She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm water and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to himself, "John 3:16... I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy feel clean. You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out."

The lady came in and got him, and took him to a room and tucked him into a big old feather bed and pulled the covers up around his neck and kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights. As he laid in the darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night he thought to himself, "John 3:16... I don't understand it, but it sure makes a tired boy feel rested."

The next morning she came back up and took him down again to that same big table full of food. After he ate she took him back to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and she got a big old Bible and sat down in front of him and she looked up as she asked, "Do you understand John 3:16?"

He said, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to say John 3:16."

She opened the Bible to John 3:16 , and she began to explain to him about Jesus. Right there in front of that big old fireplace he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought, "John 3:16, I don't understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe."

The lady then said: "You know, I have to confess I don't I understand it either; how God would be willing to send His own Son to die for you and me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don't understand it either, but it sure does make life worth living."


Addendum -- John 3:16 (NLT) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."