9-1-1

Psalm 31:2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

"Is Daddy a rescue hero?" Clara (5) asked with imploring eyes. Clara came home from school sad. She now chose to reveal the source of her melancholy. They had been learning about rescue heroes at school. One little girl's daddy even came to visit the entire class because her dad was a fireman. Everyone thought he was a hero. He even had a "superhero" suit to prove it. In her heart of hearts, Clara believed her daddy too to be a hero. She just wanted her classmates to esteem him as highly as she did.

I gathered sweet little Clara into my arms and began to tell her the story of how her daddy became a rescue hero. It started one Sunday morning when the minister modeled the "sinner's prayer". Her daddy had prayed it too. As time passed, he became better and better friends with Jesus until they were so close that they were on a first name basis. It was then, that Jesus began to talk to her daddy's heart and asked him to leave his job and go work in the church. He said yes to Jesus and today is the most important of rescue heroes. He helps Jesus save mommies, daddies and kids alike from a life without God.

Today's reading is Colossians 1. Paul spends this first chapter restating the gospel and recounting its' transforming power. This life-changing truth is summed up in the thirteenth verse: "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." God is the Chief Architect of every rescue mission:

• God Sends the Search Party - God did not wait passively by; He sent a search party. Led by His Son and guided by the Holy Spirit, Jesus came to find me. I tried to find the path out on my own by being a good person or changing "my ways", but He had to come to me.
• God Throws the Lifeline - Not only does Jesus come to find us but He provides all the needed equipment to be saved. I was like a wayward cat stuck in a tree. God had long ago leaned the ladder by my branch and waited patiently for me to notice that the way down had been there all along.

Jesus, thank you for being my Rescue Hero. You died naked on a tree with all the equipment I'd ever need to be rescued - Your life, Your love and Your willingness to take my place. Today I will remember that Your 9-1-1 lines are always open and available long before my life turns into a crisis.