In the city of Richmond, Virginia, a wealthy plantation owner was lying very ill. He had a dangerous and infectious fever, and his doctor thought he was dying.
He had lived carelessly, without any thought of God or of his soul’s need. When the doctor told him he had not long to live, he cursed and said, “It’s too bad, so young I am, with so much to live for, to think of dying now. But it has always been so. Everything is against me.” Finally the nurse who was afraid of catching the fever left him. Then the doctor asked him if he might get a Chinese boy to wait on him.
“Oh, it makes no difference,” said the sick man; “You might as well let me die like a dog. It will soon be over anyhow.”
The doctor knew a Chinese family who operated a laundry. Ching, one of the boys, was a native of China, but he had come to this country and learned to read and love the Bible, and believing in the Lord Jesus as his Saviour he had become a happy Christian. The love of Christ in his heart and the hope of one day going to be with his Saviour made him very happy. The great desire of his heart was to get an education, and go back to China and tell his countrymen of Jesus and His love.
The doctor asked Ching if he would be willing to wait on a patient of his who was sick with a dangerous fever. “He is a rich man and will pay you well,” he told Ching. Ching expressed his willingness to go, trusting that God would take care of him.
The doctor took him and introduced him to his patient. One day, while the sick man lay dozing on his bed, Ching was sitting in the corner of the room reading his Bible. The sick man opened his eyes and seeing Ching reading a black-covered book, he asked, “What confounded book is that you are reading?”
Ching was much hurt, but he meekly replied, “This no confound book; this my Jesus’ book; this my passport.”
“Huh! your passport! What do you mean?”
Then Ching merely read these two short verses:
“There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” but the name of Jesus.
“Did you say ‘all sin,’ Ching? Read that again. Would it cleanse my sin?” asked the sick man, becoming more interested.
Ching read it again, and then he said, “Yes sir, it will cleanse your sin, and satisfy all your hopes and longings.”
Then at the request of the sick man, Ching knelt down by his bedside, and prayed. In his simple way he asked God to pardon his master’s sins, because Jesus had died for him also, to give him eternal life, and to make him happy. This was repeated day by day for some time. Then one day a great change came over that sick man. The thought of the Lord Jesus’ love in dying for such a wicked sinner as he felt himself to be now, melted his heart. He asked the Lord Jesus to be his Saviour too, and then he found pardon and peace in the knowledge of sins forgiven.
A great change came over his body as well as his soul. His fever was broken, and he soon got quite well again.
When he learned that Ching was anxious to get an education and go and preach the gospel to his countrymen, he sent him to school and paid for his education. He himself became an active and devoted Christian. The once ungodly infidel now used his strength and wealth to promote the interests of Christ in the South. Ching went back to his homeland, became an honored missionary, laboring faithfully to make Christ known among his countrymen.
ML 06/20/1965