The smell of smoke

A father tucked his son into bed and opened the window like he always does to let the cool summer breeze in.  "Goodnight, son," he said.  And he gave his son one last kiss before shutting the bedroom door and heading downstairs to his own bed.

Hours later the father awoke to the smell of smoke.  He quickly got up out of his bed and ran over to his bedroom door.  When he grabbed the door knob it was so hot it burned his hand and he had to let go.  Fortunately his bedroom was on the first floor so he ran over to his window, unlatched the locks and opened it.  He kicked the screen off and quickly climbed outside.  He came out in such a hurry he lost his balance and fell into the bushes underneath his window.  He ran a few feet away from the house and looked back.  He saw the flames were coming out of the first floor windows but they hadn't yet reached the second floor where his son's room was.

A couple months prior the father had purchased a fire-escape rope ladder, yet he hadn't put it in his son's room yet or shown him how to use it.  It was sitting in the garage still in its packaging.  The father ran over to the garage window and after grabbing a stick from the flower bed he smashed the glass.  He unlocked the window, opened it and climbed inside.  The smoke in the garage was almost too much to handle but he covered his face with his white t-shirt and quickly found the rope ladder.  After climbing back out of the garage he ran around to the front of the house.

By the time the father made it to the front of the house smoke was already pouring out of his son's open window.  "Son!  Come to the window!!" he screamed up, but there was no response.  In a panic the father pulled the rope ladder out of its packaging.  The ladder had two large hooks on the end of it for hanging on the windowsill.  The father yelled, "Son you need to grab the ladder!  Wake up!"  But still his son did not come to the window.  The man threw the ladder up and tried to reach the window but the hooks hit the siding of the house and fell back to the ground.  The father tried again and one of the two hooks caught the bottom of the window.  "Climb down the ladder!" the father screamed.  "Son!  Climb down, son!  You can do it.  You've got a way out now!  I've made a way for you!  Just climb down!" But there was no response.

That is where my story ends.  So now a question for you:  If you were the father what would you do?

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesians 2:1-9

63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”   John 6:63-65