Whiter than snow (session 5)

Something wonderful happened to Elysium yesterday. When he met the old man up high in the mountain, this man, a believer on the Lord Jesus, had the joy of leading this boy to the Savior. He told him about his life's experience and the sadness that sin brought into his heart, but how the Savior, through his precious blood, had cleansed his heart whiter than the snow on the Alps.

That boy had gone home, he had saved, he had believed on the Lord Jesus. He was now following Him. Well, we've gone now from summer back to a full circle to winter.

It was a cold night in the house where Annette lived. You can see her dad is tired at the end of a busy day on the farm. Grandma is struggling to patch up the pants of dear Danny.

He's often bed asleep. She's restless. She's looking at the window.

She's looking at the clock. I think I'd better bed, Dad. Good night, Grandma.

Love you, Dad. See you tomorrow. She closed the door, but instead of climbing the stairs to her bedroom, she had lied.

She knew she had lied. Instead, she put on a warm coat with a hood, big boots, scarf and gloves. Out she went.

The snow had fallen heavy that day, but now the moon was shining bright. It was a crisp, clear night. She was lost in her thoughts.

She didn't really realise how far she had walked, and she was just enjoying all the beauty of the freshly fallen snow. And she was just about going over a little bridge, and because she wasn't really thinking about where her feet were, suddenly, boom, she was down. Both feet like a banana stick.

And when she stood up, oh, oh, oh no, now she had a problem. She had sprained her ankle, and she couldn't put any weight upon it. And one of the worst things you can possibly do, you try it out there tomorrow, you try hopping on one foot through soft, deep snow.

It's almost impossible. Pour a net, drop down in a little heap. She'd only managed to go that far back home.

And she began to cry. And she thought to herself, what a foolish girl I'd been. What a wicked girl I am, lying to Dad.

He didn't even know I'm out here. They won't even come looking for me till after breakfast. Oh, it's so cold.

I'm gonna freeze to death. I'm gonna die. And she began to cry.

It wasn't long before the cold was setting in. She was beginning to feel sleepy. And her mind was just thinking over and over and over what Grandma had often said, different things that Grandma had said, as they'd opened the Bible after supper time.

And it just seemed to be one thought coming through her mind. It was Grandma's words, Annette, the Lord Jesus longs to forgive you. As the Good Shepherd, He died on the cross to save you from your sin.

He shed His precious blood. Don't resist Him, Annette. Come to Him.

Trust Him. He won't force his way in. You can love Him.

You can follow Him. You need to be saved. All these thoughts were going through her mind.

And she was getting sleepier and sleepier. Suddenly, something brought her back to the present. Something that every boy and girl in Switzerland would know instantly.

It was the sound of skis. She looked around her. Yes, there was a figure.

Someone, believe it or not, late at night, was out on the ski slope and coming in her direction. She tried to muster up all the energy she had. Help! Help! She shouted.

Good, she thought. He heard me. She heard me.

It's hard to tell. Too far away yet. But the skier was now heading towards her.

And then suddenly, her heart dropped. Oh no, not him. Not Lucian.

As Lucian drew near on his skis, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was Annette. What was she doing? What was she doing sitting in the snow? Suddenly, he thought, maybe it was the Lord Jesus who just put it in his mind to just go skiing.

There was no reason for him to be out late at night. What was she doing? As he got closer, he could see that she had been crying. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment.

Lucian, Lucian, please don't leave me. Please. I sprained my ankle.

I fell off the bridge. Please help me home. Lucian, without saying a word, smiled, took off his big heavy coat and wrapped it around him.

He knew there was something he would have to go home for. They would need a sled. Listen, Annette, I'll be as quick as I can, but please keep moving.

Don't fall asleep. That's dangerous. I'll be back with a sled and some warm blankets.

I won't be long, I promise. And before Annette could say anything to him, he'd gone. She saw him disappearing.

Once again, she was all alone. There was a stillness. There was a quietness.

Suddenly, she began to talk to God. Annette just simply told the Lord everything. She said, God, I know you can hear me.

I've been a very silly girl, and I know my heart's very wicked, and I know I've committed many sins. And I want you to know, I do believe your Son, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God. And I do know that he died for sinners, and I believe he died for me.

Please save me. I'm right there in the snow. She had trusted the Lord Jesus.

She asked God to help her live for him. She asked God to help her forgive Lucy, and she asked God to help her be the right kind of girl to please him. She said amen, and about 30 seconds later, she added a P.S. I love it when kids can talk to the Lord so real.

And she said, oh God, you know it's not because I'm in the fix, don't you? You know my heart, and the Lord did. She wasn't just asking God to save her because she was afraid she was going to die. She had just learned that night how sinful her wicked heart was.

She had just appreciated in the stillness of that snow scene how wonderful the Savior's love for her was. And now Annette's heart was whiter than the snow that lay all around her. Thankfully, Lucian wasn't very long, and when he brought up the sled and got close to Annette, she said, Lucian, hang on a minute.

I've got something to tell you. Now, I can't speak like she's speaking. She is so cold, her teeth are chattering, but if I go, you won't hear what she says, I'll just talk as if it's normal.

She was shivering with the cold. She said, Lucian, it was me that broke your beautiful horse. I'm really sorry.

Lucian, can you forgive me? While you were gone, a wonderful thing happened. I got saved. She didn't know, by the way, that he was saved.

I trusted the Lord Jesus, and my sins are all forgiven, and he's chased the hate away. I forgive you. I know you didn't mean to hurt Danny.

Can you forgive me? He could see and hear that she was really in a dangerous situation. Oh, it's okay, he said. I'm hateful too, and he didn't really want to stop to talk.

He didn't tell her at that point either that he was saved. He was more concerned that she needed to be in the warm. He wrapped the blankets around her, and with the strength that he had, he pulled her safely back to her house.

Well, can you imagine the shock when the door opens, and in walks a cold Annette and Lucian, when they thought she was in bed asleep. Annette's father was truly grateful to Lucian, and grandma made some nice hot chocolate, and they ate Swiss cookies, it seemed, for an hour. They just sat there and talked, but it wasn't the friendliness, it was the love that was being shown to Lucian.

It was just wonderful, and grandma, with her spiritual wisdom, could see a little opening here, and she began to talk to the children about the Lord Jesus, but she'd hardly got a couple of words out, when suddenly, Annette burst. Grandma, dad, I almost forgot. I got something to tell you, and she told them how she got saved out in the snow, while she was waiting for Lucian to come back.

She's always so wonderful, isn't it, to know your sins are forgiven, to know I belong to the good shepherd, and I'm going to heaven, and she looked straight at Lucian, and she looked across at grandma, and she said, grandma, Lucian could be saved too, couldn't he? Grandma smiled. All Lucian did was a beaming smile from ear to ear, said, I'm already saved. That was all he said.

It was time for him to get home. He'd never been happier in all his life. As he knelt beside his bed that night, he thanked God he was saved.

He thanked God for putting it in his head to go skiing, and he asked God to help him. Think of a way he could show Annette he was really sorry for what happened to Danny, and barely had he said amen, he was just going to get into bed when it hit him like a brick. The old man's son, who's a doctor.

He's in the village. The old man's son, the old man's son. If I could reach him, if I could get to him, he could help Danny walk.

Pulled back the curtain, another snowstorm had begun. He'd have to get there in the morning. He'd have to be there before the morning, he thought.

If I don't go now, the snow will be too deep, and he won't come. Now he'd gone out on some real stormy nights before, but he'd already been skiing. He'd already been sledding.

He wrote a note to his mum, got himself all dressed up, and started down to the village. It was easy going to the hill, but he was tired, and he realized he didn't have the strength. But now he had a friend who had promised, I'll never leave you, nor forsake you.

And so while he's skiing, he's praying. You know you can talk to God anytime, anyplace. I often talk to God when I'm driving, but I don't close my eyes.

It'd be silly to do that. But he's skiing, and he's praying. Oh God, he says, I've taken on too much.

I'm tired. Please give me the strength to get there. Please give me the right words to persuade the doctor to help Danny.

Thank you Lord. Amen. And he skied all the way down the hill.

He knocked on the door of the hotel, and when they opened the door, he collapsed, exhausted. Quickly the maid woke up the doctor. They got him into a warm bed.

It can only matter the doctor's name. He was so tired, he couldn't tell him who he was, where he was from, and why he was there. Until the morning.

After a good sleep, the doctor listened carefully. Remember the doctor was a believer too in the Lord Jesus. And when he realized the boy had risked his life to help Danny, he thought, I will go, however deep the snow.

And can you imagine the shock? There's a net with a leg up when the doctor walks in. He says he's come to help her little brother. The doctor took Danny away to a special place for over three months.

She never saw her little brother. One day, Lucian got a message to come to the house. Danny was coming home, and she wanted Lucian there.

You see Lucian and Edward now, but that's their friend. Whereas before, they'd been the worst of enemies. That's what the Saviour had done for them both.

Forgiven both. They had forgiven each other, and now they were friends. And so the day came when he came home, and the good news was more wonderful than dad and grandma and Nat and Lucian could ever imagine.

He walked in without crutches. He was able to stand up. The doctor says he thought he'd be able to ski and skate again soon.

He pointed to Lucian. You've got to be thankful to that boy who risked his life to come to get him. Lucian put his head down.

No, he thought. No. All the thanks must be given to God who gave him the strength to get there.

Lucian smiled, though tears of joy were running down his face as he saw how well now Danny looked and how thankful he was that God had answered his prayers. Annette hugged her little brother, but she spoke to Lucian. Lucian, why don't you come over to my house? We can read the Bible together with grandma.

We can grow like the little fir trees. Day by day, we can grow in our love for the Lord Jesus. Would you like that? Lucian nodded.

He was too choked up to say anything, but how glad he was that he was saved. How glad Annette was, like Lucian, that her heart was whiter than snow. That story was written by a lady probably 40 odd years ago.

Just a story, but the truths of that story are found in the Bible. You can buy the book. It's called, not whiter than snow, it's called Treasures of the Snow.

You might be able to find it and buy it. It's a great story. The most important thing of the story is that both of those dear children came to know and love the same.

You can come to know and love him too.