Because of his godliness, a workman was the object of the ridicule of his comrades and his foreman. The Christian workman suffered in silence however, remembering his divine Master, “Who when He was reviled, riled not again.” 1 Peter 2:2323Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (1 Peter 2:23). Adding to his faith, love, he asked God to save the souls of those who were insulting him.
One day as he was praying fervently, his foreman happened to pass by and saw him. Perhaps it was out of curiosity, or perhaps hatred, but he stopped to listen. He heard his own name meioned. He himself was the object of the fervent prayers that he heard and to his astonishment, he felt stirred within.
“Never,” he said to himself, “have I ever heard of the equal.” He couldn’t understand such eloquence from the mouth of a simple workman. He was praying so earnestly.
“John,” he said to him the next day,
“I want you to preach to me.”
The workman thought this was a new kind of mockery. He replied, “You know well, Sir, that I am not a preacher.”
“I know it. I heard you yesterday depict so well the state of my soul, that you should be able to satisfy me,” the foreman said.
John replied, “It is true. I have prayed particularly for you.”
“And never has anything produced such an effect on me. Repeat what you have said.”
John did not refuse. He gladly told out the message of the gospel in all its simplicity. He told of man’s sin and of God’s great love in sending His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in our guilty stead on the cross of Calvary. Now He is risen again, and from the glory He offers salvation to all. Soon both the foreman and his workman were on their knees praying, and their prayers were answered. The former mocker became a true Christian and a courageous witness for his Lord and Saviour. What rejoicing there was in heaven over this triumph of grace!
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5: 1 6.
ML 04/22/1956