John 3: 16 and the homeless boy
In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark wintry night, a blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner of the street.
The people were in and out of cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn’t trying to sell many papers.
He walked up to a policeman and said, “Sir, 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 alley and it’s awful cold in there for tonight.
Sure, it 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 knock on the door.
When they come out of the door, you just say, ‘John 3:16’ and they will let you in.
” So the boy went to the house, walked up the steps, and knocked on the door, and a lady answered.
He looked up and said, “John 3:16.” The lady said, “Come on in, son. ” She took him in and made him sit down in a split bottom rocker in front of a big old fireplace.
The boy sat there for a while and thought to himself: “John 3:16…… I don’t understand it, but it surely makes a cold boy warm.”
A few minutes later, she asked the boy, “Are you hungry?” He replied, “Well, I am, but just a little. I haven’t eaten for a couple of days and I guess I could stand a little bit of food.
” The lady took him in kitchen and gave him some nice delicious food to eat. He ate and ate until he couldn’t eat any more.
Then he thought to himself: “John 3:16.
.
.
.
.
I sure don’t understand it, but it surely makes a hungry boy full.
” The lady took the boy upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm water and he sat there and soaked himself for a while.
As he soaked, he thought to himself: “John 3:16.
.
.
.
.
I sure don’t understand it, but it surely does make a dirty boy clean.
”
“You know, I’ve not had a real bath in my whole life,” he told the lady.
“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 then took him to another room, tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him good night and turned out the lights.
As he lay in the darkness and looked out of the window at the snow coming down on that cold frosty night, he thought to himself: “John 3:16.
.
.
.
I don’t understand it, but it surely makes a tired boy rested.
”
The next morning, the lady came back and took him down again to that same table full of food.
After he had his fill, she took him down again to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up an old Bible.
She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face.
“Do you understand John 3:16?
” she asked him gently.
“No ma’am,” he replied.
“I don’t.
The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it.
”
She opened the Bible to the book of John chapter 3, verse 16 and began to explain it to him.
It was all about the love of Jesus Christ — “For God so loved the world, that He gave His Prophet, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
” And right there in front of that big old fireplace, the boy gave his heart and life to Jesus.
He sat there and thought: “John 3:16.
I don’t understand it, but it surely makes a lost boy feel safe.
”
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Mumbai, India
