IN A SMALL room lay a young workman dangerously ill. The room was as tidy and comfortable as the mother of the sic k man, a poor widow, could make it. At the window, stood a row of pretty red flower pots, and the carefully attended flowers spread a pleasant fragrance in the room. Otherwise the poverty of both occupants was evident at the first glance. Michael, as the sick man was called, had not worked for a long time, so mother and son depended on the little that the thrifty woman earned by washing and cleaning.
When I entered the room, a friendly smile lit up the face of the sick man. He was always alone, and, therefore, welcomed a visit with double joy. “How are you doing, Michael?” I asked.
“Bodily, not the best,” he replied. “The sickness seems to increase.” “If you must die, Michael, what then? Are you sure that you will go to Jesus?”
“Thank God, yes! I am absolutely sure that I will go to heaven.” “What makes you so completely assured, Michael?” I asked again. “I’ll tell you,” was the reply. “You see, Jesus has said, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you —’ therefore, He says it also to me— ‘He that heareth My word’—and I have heard His word — ‘and believeth on Him that sent Me’ — and I have believed, — ‘hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.’ Jesus has said it; and He cannot tell a lie.”
Michael’s’ faith was simple and childlike. Jesus has never yet deceived a poor lost sinner who has trusted in Him, and His words were life for the poor sick man. He was not deeply learned in religious things, but one thing he knew that he was a poor lost sinner, and that Jesus had died for him; and further that he trusted Jesus fully when He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you.”
Would you not like to have such childlike faith, dear young reader? I think that you sometimes have a feeling about your sins, and tremble at the thought of the fearful judgment that waits the impenitent sinner. If it is so, if you are convicted of your lost state, and long for forgiveness of your sins, then just listen to the words of Jesus. They are the words of the Son of God who cannot lie. He Himself once said, “I am the truth” and “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” Do you believe the words of Jesus? I don’t ask you if you believe them to be true, but, have you believed in Him with your heart and in His message of love? If so, you have eternal life. For: “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” (Jno. 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).) Jesus said it.
ML 09/15/1912