LEE DIDN’T WANT religion; it was all right for those that did. But he himself had a natural contempt for the gospel.
Still he didn’t want others to think he was a heathen and one day when an evangelist urged him to come to the gospel meeting he promised he would. He would keep his promise, but he determined not to listen.
So that evening Lee sat in the gospel meeting. The little congregation sang the lovely hymn, “’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,” and Lee even admitted to himself that he enjoyed the singing.
But when the evangelist began to speak, at once Lee poked his fingers into his ears. He wasn’t going to listen to any of the preacher’s stories.
Glancing up at the walls he saw a text in large letters: “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins...” Lee read no further, but closing his eyes he pushed his fingers farther into his ears, and scuffled his feet.
The speaker noticed Lee’s ill behavior and silently prayed, asking the Lord to speak to Lee’s heart and give him to see his need of the Saviour.
As Lee sat with his eyes and ears closed a fly came buzzing around and landed on a bald spot on his head. Lee opened his eyes and taking his finger from one ear he took a swing at the fly. Just at that moment his eyes met the gaze of the evangelist and he heard the words, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:4343Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:43)).
At once Lee’s finger went back into his ear again, but the Word had entered, and instead of closing his eyes he kept them fixed on the speaker. Then the pesky fly returned and settled on his bald spot again. Out came Lee’s finger again in a vain attempt to swat the fly, but at that moment he heard again, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
Lee didn’t plug his ears this time but listened intently. The speaker told the story of the man who sowed good seed in his field, but then an enemy came along and sowed bad seed in the same field. The owner let the good and the bad grow together until the harvest Then the good grain was gathered into the granary and the bad was burned up.
The fly came back again but Lee paid no attention to it. As he listened to the Word, God by His Spirit spoke to his heart. He knew he was not among the good seed; he felt he was among the bad. But he learned that Jesus, the Son of God, came to the world to die for sinners — for Lee himself. How real and wonderful it became to him. It was all true. God loved him; Jesus died for him. Lee believed and was saved.
ML-08/25/1974