Iron Burn

 

             

In 1972 I began working at Mueller Iron Foundry in Chattanooga.  It was hot and heavy work, but it paid well.  Mueller made cast iron fire hydrants on a huge machine.  It took a crew of twenty workers to keep the MoldMaster running.  The MoldMaster had thirty or so huge steel molds that held compacted sand in the shape of fire hydrants on the inside.  There was an overhead monorail system that carried one-ton ladles with liquid iron to pour into the molds.  The iron was at about 2800°F and would splash just like water … only at a searing temperature.  When I poured the iron, I had a whole array of safety equipment.  I had steel-toed shoes with rubber spats over the laces.  I had thick leather gloves with dark safety glasses.  A shield kept the heat off my face and a hard hat kept the splattering iron off my hair.  I wore two long sleeved shirts and two pair of jeans just to keep the heat at bay.  Most of the men word bibbed overalls, and one afternoon I found out why.  I was pouring iron when a splash of liquid iron bounced off my hat and went down my shirt collar.  I wriggled my shoulders and the iron rolled down my back, but stopped at my belt.  I scrambled, ripping off my belt and pulling off my pants, but it was too late.  The iron had burned right into my skin.  I went to the infirmary where the nurse took out the piece of iron that was the size of a BB.  Over the next week, the cooked flesh left a scar about the size of a dime.  I had to work to keep it clean.  I still have a scar on my back-left side at my waistline.  Hey, if you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will burn in hell someday.  If that little burn hurt me so much, imagine how painful hell will be FOR ETERNITY!  I hate to be the one to tell you of hell, but I must warn you as a friend.  God doesn’t hate sinners; God just hates sin.  And a burning hell demonstrates how much God hates sin.  But God loves sinners so much that He gave His only Son to die in your place.  God has done everything that He can to rescue you from hell, but the choice is up to you.  Paul said in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Accept Jesus while you can.  Make no mistake, hell is hot.