I am very glad to write a few lines to Boys and Girls. I was a very small boy indeed when God first spoke to me. Many a night I used to lie awake troubled to think how long Eternity was; that after this life there was another, that never, never ended.
At times I used to cry out in alarm, “Mother! mother!” and then I would hear my dear, faithful mother come running up to my bedside; but when my mother reached me, I would be ashamed to tell her the trouble of my heart, and so I would feign to be asleep, and I would feel her look and hear her say, “O, dear child, he is talking in his sleep,” and go away.
I feel sure there are many such experiences in which Christ comes seeing you in early years, but the devil hinders you, and you say “by and by” to Jesus. O, how often I have felt sorry I did not then tell my mother all!
I lost years of the joy of knowing and serving Christ, and became very careless about my soul. I left home, and actually left off praying, left off reading the Bible, and more or less left off hearing the Gospel preached. O, how near I was to destruction.
But God did not leave off seeking me, for I went into an office where there was much ungodliness, but my parents’ letters followed me, and their advice, etc., kept me from running wild. My dear brother was saved and he often spoke to me. A text he gave me was mightily blessed to my soul. It was, “Christ died for your sins.”
Christ Died for Me
I had heard it hundreds of times, but it seemed as if a great light shone into my heart, and I said, “Well, if Christ died for me, there is no need for me to die.”
Afterward I opened the Bible, and the glorious words so full of certainty met my gaze, “He that seeketh findeth.” Matthew 7:88For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7:8). I sought Christ, and I found Him.
Alone in my bedroom at midnight I fell down on my knees in the darkness. I yielded to Christ. I gave in, I came to Christ, and He did all the rest. He received, He cleansed, He forgave, and He has kept me ever since. Blessed be His Name, He did it all.
“I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was—
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.”
I have been several years serving my Master, and even now at this moment my heart is bubbling up with joy as I think of what a Saviour I have found and what a faithful God.
If you have not already “Come to Jesus,” come as you are, and. He will receive you, save you, keep you all the days of your life, and bring you safe to Heaven at last. What a wonderful Saviour. Trust Him now. If you neect or reject His love, you will regret it to all Eternity. Haste to the Lord Jesus and be saved now.
ML 09/23/1945