IT WAS bedtime and, as usual, Tom knelt down beside his bed to pray, when he felt himself being pelted with pillows. Looking up he saw his brother Bernard laughing mockingly at him. Tom knew the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, but Bernard was not saved. He had been told many times and he himself had read in the Scriptures many times that he was sinful, and could never go to heaven unless he would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to take away his sins. But he only ridiculed his brother and did not believe.
The young men made their living by fishing and spent many hours a day in their boats. On one occasion as they fished, the sea became rough and the waves rose higher and higher until a great swell tipped Bernard’s boat and he fell into the water. He was entirely helpless, for he could not swim. He had often heard stories of drowning fishermen, and as he went down into the dark water he knew he could not save himself and would perish as others had done. Just as he went down the third time, Tom’s strong hand grabbed his finger — just one finger — and tugged him to safety. Bernard was saved from downing; but even after such a rescue he still refused to confess his sins and to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
Some time later the two men were fishing again, when poor lost Beard had a second experience almost exactly like the first. This time too he did not listen to the warning. “For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not,” Job 33:1414For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. (Job 33:14). God’s eye was upon him, and soon after these narrow escapes, as Beard heard the Word of God read, he saw himself as a sinner and realized that God was speaking to him. By faith he saw the Lord Jesus dying for him on the cross, and he believed the word of God. How repentant he was as he remembered how he had thrown pillows to keep Tom from praying, and now he knew it was himself for whom those prayers had gone up to God. Tom showed to him the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
ML-06/24/1962