Johnnie Ring was a young boy who served as an orderly under a captain in the Union Army during the Civil War. Johnnie shared the captain’s tent, sleeping on a low couch just across from the officer. One of his duties was to polish the captain’s gold sheathed sword, on which was engraved the motto: “True friendship is eternal.”
On their first night together Johnnie took his little Bible out of his pocket to read in the dim light of a lantern. To his surprise the captain took one look at him and roared, “We don’t believe in the Bible around here, and neither will you after you get into the War. You can’t read the Bible in my tent. I couldn’t have anyone see you reading it here.”
Greatly surprised and pained, poor Johnnie explained that he had promised his mother before she died that he would read his Testament regularly every night.
The captain snapped, “If you wish to read that Testament, get out of this tent and away from me. I respect your love for your mother, but I don’t believe in the Bible. It will do you no good anyhow!”
Johnnie was unable to read his Testament outside in the dimming twilight, so each day after that he tried waiting for the captain to go out and then snatching a few minutes to read. However, the captain came in unexpectedly one evening and caught him at it.
“Johnnie, didn’t I tell you not to read that Bible?” said the captain. “Now do what your superior officer commands! Stop it now, and don’t ever read that Bible in my tent again!”
Sadly the boy closed his Bible and started to leave the tent. Then with tears in his eyes he said, “Captain, I love you; but you are a very wicked man.” This was the last said about the Bible, but it left the captain strangely disturbed.
Shortly after, while the regiment was guarding a railroad in North Carolina, one dark night the Captain was inspecting some sentries. Suddenly a bullet whistled out of the dark forest and knocked him down. Miraculously enough he was scarcely wounded, for the bullet had struck and smashed the watch in his pocket.
Sometime later while the captain was in New Berne on business, the enemy captured and destroyed his encampments. As the troops retreated across the burning bridge, Johnnie discovered that the captain’s sword had been left hanging in their quarters. Back he raced across the bridge and rescued it from the blazing tent. Then again dashing through the smoke and flames on the bridge he fell at the end insensible with his uniform on fire.
Brave Johnnie was badly burned. Later when he regained consciousness, he asked after his captain. Word was at once sent to the offer, but before he could come Johnnie had gone to be with Jesus his Saviour whom he loved and served faithfully. When the captain received back his sword again and read the motto: “True friendship is eternal!” he said, “Eternal! Will I ever see Johnnie again? Is there any eternity?” He never forgot the brave boy who had died serving his captain.
At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain sometime later, the officer who was now Lieutenant Colonel, was severely wounded and left for dead. While lying there he thought: “Oh! is there another life? If there My Best Text is, I want to find Johnnie. If only I could have that boy here to pray for me! I feel an awful desire to know about eternal life—if there is such a thing.”
God was gracious to the wounded officer, and eventually he recovered. But best of all he learned that there was a God, that He was a God of love who delights in mercy. With cords of love He drew the former atheist to the feet of the Saviour. He accepted Johnnie’s Saviour as his Saviour, and from then on it was his joy to tell others of Him who had saved him and given him eternal life. He became a faithful and well-known preacher of the gospel.
Dear reader, there is an eternity. Where will you spend it?
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:8, 6:23.
ML-12/02/1979