Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Thump (05/30/13)
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TITLE: From a Melancholy Sound to the Song of Victory | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ernest Yoder
06/06/13 -
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Late one afternoon a number of years ago I was driving my family through a small south Georgia community not far from where we live. Suddenly a small brown animal darted in front of our vehicle. The predictable thump ensued. I glanced in the rear view mirror to see the result of the impact. I saw nothing.
“That is quite odd,” was the thought I conveyed to my family.
The first opportunity I had to check out my front bumper was when we returned home and I had light to see by. What did I find but a cotton tail rabbit firmly ensconced in a rabbit sized cutout that was a feature of the car’s steel bumper? (Yes this was back in the day when automobile bumpers were solid steel, not plastic.) The rabbit’s reflexive and instinctive leap was just high enough and occurred at just the precise millisecond for it to encounter the hole in the bumper of the rapidly approaching car and get carried away.
What lesson can be gleaned from such a thumping experience? Is it that rabbits should look both ways before crossing the road? Or perhaps drivers should be more watchful of rabbits crossing the road. Seriously, neither one.
I rather believe the lesson we can take, at least if we can take an analogy from the rabbit’s experience, is that to get carried away by sin is fatal. That rabbit had an instinct that led directly to its death. We humans likewise are predisposed to make mistakes, both natural and spiritual. Potentially the latter carries with it the most serious consequences. Like that rabbit we cannot help ourselves. There are millions who have been fatally thumped by a naturally reflexive leap that got them caught and carried away in the world’s system. It did not matter how nice our auto might have been, how “smoooooothly” it operated, or how promising the “ride” looked; it was fatal to the rabbit. That is the way the devil, sin, and our human nature operate when they collide. We will have a collision with sin’s consequences and get carried away and die eternally unless….
Praise God for “unless.” Thanks be to God for the alternative. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for (instead of) us. Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
There was a collision in the making. It happened late one afternoon on Calvary where Jesus took our thumping for us. And mind you, it wasn’t just a coincidental and instinctive leap into the path of impending death. He, as Lord of life, was carrying out a plan from eternity through which the dull, hopeless, and melancholy thump of death would be forever conquered by the victorious song and boundless life of His redeemed ones. Death was subjugated by the living vitality of His glorious resurrection. The minions of hell and their master of death were and are compelled to slink away in ignominious defeat. They are the ones that take a thumping every time a soul trusts in our Lord Jesus for eternal salvation. No wonder there is great rejoicing in Heaven every time a sinner is adopted into the Kingdom!
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I felt sorry for the poor rabbit, but I liked the detail and touch of reality that it gave this. Your ending had the most impact, to think of it in terms that Jesus took our "thumping" for us. That was very original. Nicely done. Thanks for sharing.
I did notice,especially in the opener, that a few well-placed commas would help the flow. Also this line:“That is quite odd,” was the thought I conveyed to my family.
feels a touch awkward. You could just say I said. Or even better something like: Looking in the rear view mirror, I noticed the furrowed brow on my kids' faces.
That way it shows who is speaking while painting a picture for the reader.
Your message is a great one. Your Bible verse is a perfect fit. It really makes me stop and think. You did a great job of covering the topic in a couple of different ways. It is quite clever and really sends the message home.
God bless~