Carlos Arredondo

Mercy Came Running

 

He has been called the "face of the tragedy" by the International Business Times. The tragedy is the Boston bombings during the Boston Marathon earlier this week. The face is that of Carlos Arredondo, Boston's cowboy hat-wearing hero.

 

Carlos and his wife Melida were watching the Boston Marathon from the VIP stands. They were there in support of the National Guard runners, representing Run for the Fallen - Maine, an organization established to honor Marines who have been killed since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. One of the National Guard runners was in the marathon in honor of their son, Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo, who died fighting in Iraq in 2004.

 

Immediately after the bombs went off, Arredondo ran, not away from the chaos, but toward it. He jumped the barricade fence and immediately began helping the injured victims of the blast. He used his clothes and towels to apply tourniquets to maimed victims lying on the street.

 

"There was blood on the floor. There was blood everywhere," a still visibly shaken Arredondo told reporters, according to a YouTube clip. "Then, all you see is limbs everywhere. I mean, everywhere."

 

Arredondo and his cowboy hat have become a lasting image of heroism because he ran toward the devastation and immediately began helping victims.

 

Arredondo reminds us of One who came to OUR rescue.

 

When we were hopelessly lost and destined for destruction because of our sins, God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and eternal life (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7).

 

Phillips, Craig, and Dean have described beautifully how Jesus came to our rescue in a song entitled, Mercy Came Running:

 

"Mercy came running, Like a prisoner set free Past all my failures, To the point of my need When the sin that I carried, Was all I could see And when I could not reach mercy.... Mercy came running to me."

 

When we were damaged and dying due to our sins (Romans 3:23; 6:23), Mercy came running to save us!

 

Jesus will save those who accept His mercy on His terms by placing their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessing Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to extend mercy to those who continue to seek to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).

 

Won't YOU accept His Mercy by trusting and obeying Jesus?

 

David Sargent