In the days of the prophet Elijah, there was a very poor widow in a place called Zarephath. There had been no rain for a long time in Zarephath, so there was hardly any food anywhere. This lady was so poor that she only had one more meal left. She knew that once it was finished, she and her son would die. This is very hard for us to imagine because of all the large stores of food we have. Sometimes our idea of “starving” is having no food at 4:00 in the afternoon — in between a good lunch and dinner. This is not starvation! Maybe you have seen pictures of children from around the world who have had no food for days. Try to imagine how you would feel if, next Monday, you knew you would have no breakfast. Lunchtime comes along and you say, “I’m starving.” But then there is no lunch. No afternoon snack. No dinner. No snack after dinner. You go to sleep saying, “I’m so hungry!” You wake up. Still no food. No breakfast. No lunch. No snack. Do you get the idea? This is terrible! How thankful we should be for living in a part of the world where the Lord has provided so richly for us. Let us make sure we really do “give thanks” before and after each meal.

The Lord, through His prophet Elijah, performed a wonderful miracle for this poor widow and her son. Right before they finished their last few scraps of food, the Lord supplied a daily provision of food for them. Can you imagine how incredibly thankful this mother and her son would be as they gave thanks before each meal?

However, something really sad happened next. The widow’s son became very sick, and then he died. We are never too young to die. God can wonderfully save your life one day (like He did when He provided them food), but then allow you to die the next. You must be ready to die. The only way to be ready to die is to confess that we are great sinners and to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the great Savior. Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you turn in true faith to Jesus Christ.

What happened next gives us a wonderful pic­ture of the saving work of Jesus Christ. The mother went to Elijah and told him the terrible news. Elijah went to her home, took the boy upstairs, and laid him on his own bed. He then did what we must all do: he cried to the Lord to give life back to the little boy. Then Elijah did something very interesting: he stretched himself out on the boy, probably putting his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his hands on the boy’s hands, his feet on the boy’s feet (see 2 Kings 4:34). He did this three times. And after the third time, the little boy opened his eyes and began breathing again. He was alive! Elijah brought him to his grate­ful mother.

This teaches us several important lessons about salvation. First, no one can save himself or herself. Someone else must do the saving. Second, salvation is not an easy thing. Third, to save a dead sinner, someone who is alive must come and take our death. We see all these lessons very clearly in the saving work of Jesus Christ. First, Jesus Christ came to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). We are not sick people needing to get better; we are dead people who need to be given life. Second, it was not easy for Jesus to save a sinner. He came to this world of sin and sorrow and lived here for over thirty years. He prayed earnestly night and day, He was tempted by Satan, people mocked Him and tried to kill Him. Eventually, they crucified Him. In comparison to salvation, the creation of the world was easy. Third, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of His people. In a greater way than Elijah, Jesus was coming to our place of death so that He could give us life. He took our sins so that He could give us salvation. Jesus was taking the hell we deserve on the cross, so that if we believe on Him, we will have eternal life. So here is the really important truth for us: “Believe in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).