THE RAIN CAME DOWN

I was always surprised to see Javanese boys and girls scamper home in the rain.

Of course, in the tropics, the afternoon rain is very heavy. So the children know they may be caught in the rain during the wet season.

Where you and I carry a rain coat, possibly rubber boots, even a plastic hat; not so with Javanese boys and girls.

I watched them from our window as a group of children rushed for a banana palm, tore off its leaves one metre wide, with two of them walking under each leaf. Those children were dry as if they had bundled on raincoats. Even as the rain dripped from the end of the banana leaf, the children were dry. Sheltering under a banana leaf was the wisest means of keeping safe and dry.

I remember how the Israelites needed shelter when the angel of death passed across their land. Do you? For they killed a perfect lamb, collected its blood in a pot, putting that blood on the doorposts of their homes. All those who entered in through such doorways were perfectly safe. Even so, some laughed at them for this.

I observed the Indonesian children as the banana leaves kept them safe and dry. While some mocked those who put the blood on their doorposts, the sign of that blood kept them safe in the land of Egypt. The presence of death passed across that night, but those sheltering under the blood were protected by the Presence of God.

God said that an unblemished animal must be killed and its blood collected and put on the doorpost, ensuring they were safe. But one day God allowed the Lord Jesus Christ to be killed as the spotless Lamb. When God saw the blood of His dear Son, He said, ‘I am satisfied,’ for a faultless Lamb had been sacrificed.

When Jesus died on the cross, God saw that His Son’s blood had been shed. If we believe the Lord Jesus died for us, then we shelter beneath the sacrifice of His blood, the immeasurable price He paid for our sin.

Yes, because the Lord Jesus died, we may shelter under His shed blood, and cradle in His love.

If you could see the people you might laugh,

For they shelter from the rain along the path,

They hold aloft a leaf

To protect them from the sheath

Of rain that falls and wets

As they hurry up their steps.

And the dear Lord Jesus does the very same,

To protect us from all the evil, Jesus came,

Shedding His own blood he died

Upon a lonely hillside.

‘Tis a precious thing to me

Jesus died on Calvary.

‘When I see the blood, I will pass over‘. Exodus 12:13

‘The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin’ 1 John 1:7

READ GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE.

GWENDA