THIS question was asked of a young lady by a friend interested in her soul’s state, who feared that the fleeting attractions of the present world entirely occupied her attention.
“Certainly, I am a Christian,” she replied, “but not one of your sort exactly.”
“But,” said her friend, “the point is not, Are you a Christian according to any man’s pattern, which may be a very faulty one, but after Christ’s pattern, the only real one? Have you ever felt a sense of sin, of unfitness to meet God? Have you ever seen the fullness of the salvation He has provided by the cross of His Son? Have you gone to Jesus for pardon, and, knowing your sins forgiven, are you pointing others to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world?”
“No,” she said, “I told you I did not go by your pattern. I think if I do my duty to myself and my neighbor, nothing else can be expected of me. I go to church, say my prayers, and sometimes read my Bible. I do very well, and have no fear for my future.”
The solemnity of our Lord’s words, “Ye must be born again,” and the great truth that “without shedding of blood is no remission,” were pointed out to this lady. Whether she accepted a free salvation through Christ, or continued trying to save herself, the day will declare.
It is too much to be feared there are many, like her, quite content with themselves, leading exemplary lives, yet under condemnation. Why? Because they — as has been truly said of such — want to be Christians without Christ. They have begun at the wrong end, working for life in place of from life.
The evil is that self bulks largely. They know not the plague of their own hearts, the evil of sin, nor that they are under the curse, and so have neglected and do not feel the need of God’s appointed Saviour.
Reader, how is it with you? Are you safe under the blood, or still under the curse, seeking to save yourself?
Answer to yourself this question now, and make sure it is well with your soul. Do not delay till tomorrow, which may never come. “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”
W. S.