When I was a little girl, I liked playing with my friends during the summer in the pool outside our village. But I have never gone back there since the day I realized that children must never go near the deep end of the pool. Let me tell you my story.   

There was a little pool just outside our village. In summer, during the rainy season, it could store a lot of water. In the afternoon, after being exposed to sunshine for several hours, the water became warmer and was much more comfortable. My friends and I liked to play in the water during the warm afternoons. Because I could not swim, I just stayed in the shallow part of the pool because I liked the feeling of the water flowing around me. When I looked up to the sky, I could see some birds flying, and some just singing in the trees around the pool. But to my disappointment, adults often prevented us from going to the pool because they said that it was dangerous that one did not know where it was deep or where it was just right for one’s height. I didn’t believe them until I had an accident.

When I was 11 years old, I went to the pool with my best friend at dusk when the water was cool and refreshing. As I had not gone to the pool for several days, I got very excited, and walked around in the water as she stayed along the edge. Suddenly I stepped into a deep place where the water swallowed me! I could not take a breath because I could not keep my head above the water. I tried my best to jump up from the bottom, calling for help, but found that I could hardly yell because the water engulfed my head the minute I began to call. Water rushed into my mouth and then reached my stomach. I used my hands to strike the water and moved my legs to raise my body to try and breathe. I struggled, trying to get out, but I didn’t know the right direction to go to find shallower water. As more water rushed into my mouth, my strength was waning. I hoped that someone would see me and guide me in the right direction so that I could walk out into shallower water.

Suddenly I heard someone calling me and I realized that my friend had found me. I tried to yell for help, but it was a long distance between us and very hard for her to reach me. Her calls were getting closer as I struggled against the water with my hands and legs splashing a lot of water. Suddenly, I felt her hand touch mine, and I gripped it tightly. I could barely walk as I had lost all my strength. Slowly, I set one foot on a higher place, and then another, then I could see, hear, breathe, and speak. I realized that my friend had saved me. I cried when I realized that I had entered deeper water which almost snatched my life away. I could not wait to leave the pool, and my friend was happy to see that everything was finally okay.

Eleven years have passed, and I still remember the details of that incident. I have never returned to that pool since that terrible day. I was too confident to go into that deep pool, and I should never be so overconfident. I realized that one should not go to a deep pool to play when there is no one around you and I must learn to swim and be more cautious in everything I do. What’s more, there is a firmer friendship between my friend and me. I have come to realize the value of a true friend, for I discovered that a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Additional Comments – Gratefully, my former student was rescued in the “nick of time.” Of course, she learned lessons about obeying her parents and other adults who warned her about going near the pool. She discovered that she needed to learn to swim, and to never be overconfident about anything in life. And finally, she learned the value of true friendship, discovered when she was in desperate need.

There are also some important spiritual analogies with her story. The Bible says that “While we were helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6). The word “ungodly” refers to those people who live their lives without regard for God. They can either knowingly reject Him, or simply ignore Him. Either way, they are separated from God because of their own disregard for Him.

And then, the Greek word for “helpless” can also be translated as “weak” or “without strength.” That’s what my former student experienced as she entered the deep end of the pool and tried to save herself. She couldn’t, and soon discovered that she was “helpless.” But in the “nick of time,” her friend “showed up” with an outstretched hand for her to grab ahold of. 

Jesus was labeled by the hypocritical religious leaders as a “friend of sinners.” It was a derogatory label for Jesus, but he wore it on his robe as a “badge of honor.” He came into the world “to save sinners” because they were “helpless” to save themselves. The Bible goes on to say that, “God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). God didn’t just talk about love, He demonstrated it! And the demonstration of that love is that He died for us. The “Friend of Sinners” died for “sinners.” He died for you and for me.

One of the greatest of all Christian truths is that we cannot save ourselves through good works or religious rituals. We are separated from God by our sin, that is, our desire to live our lives without regard for Him or His plan for our lives. At the same time, Jesus is our “Friend,” and He died for sinners just like you and me, and He rose from the dead and lives today to rescue us from the penalty and power of sin, and to impart new life to anyone who asks for it. 

If you have never done so, there is no better time to acknowledge that you are “helpless” to save yourself, and that you need a Savior to rescue you. He is the Friend of Sinners who died for you, and he has risen from the grave to give you new life. Yes, HE IS RISEN! Let’s celebrate.