Easter is a time for taking a good holiday and enjoying the Spring weather after the cold of winter.It is also a time when friends and family get together, reconnect and show their love for each other, by giving one another gifts such as eggs and gift baskets in a wide variety of different shapes, styles and designs, containing things such as sweets, Easter eggs and a stuffed bunny.Recently, I came across this story from London, UK, of a person who gave the biggest gift that he could to a young girl.On Good Friday, 1912, two friends set off for a day's outing in what was then quite a novelty - a petrol driven bus! What they wanted to do was to discover whether they could travel by regular bus services from London to Rochester, in Kent, ( a distance of about 31 miles) and back again in one day.So they left home quite early but didn't reach Rochester until late afternoon because of having to make several changes and long waits for connections.It was obvious that they would have to return by train and found that they would have an hour's wait for the next train home so they decided to have some tea and take a walk by the castle wall to Strood Pier.As they sat and rested they suddenly heard frightened screams.Down on the lower jetty were clustered half a dozen children screaming with horror.One of their companions, a blond-haired little girl, had fallen into the water and was being carried away by the strong tide to almost certain death.Without a moment's delay, Percy, one of the two young men, threw off his coat and plunged into the water after her.He was soon at her side, holding her up and talking comfortingly to her to quieten her fears, as they were born away by the swift tide.From the opposite bank a man put out in a rowing boat and was only a few yards from them when Percy sank beneath the water.His last act was to push the little girl towards the approaching boat.She was saved, but there was no sign of her rescuer; his body was recovered an hour later.Next day Percy's brother was called to the inquest.He never forgot the words of the coroner to Dorothy, the little girl."I want you always to remember, my dear, that your life has twice been saved on Good Friday - once yesterday, when Percy Henry Gordon gave his life to save yours, and once on the first Good Friday that ever was, when the Lord Jesus Christ died to save you.".The story of Percy's noble and courageous act is remembered, even today, by a plaque on the wall near the river Medway in Rochester.Yet his act in giving his life to save Dorothy from drowning is but a faint reflection of Jesus' love for us.Neither death was an accident.The Bible says that, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have abundant life.".
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