The Grape Grower
In the sunny south of France, there lived a grape grower named Jean Michel. He had a son named Martin, a sharp, intelligent little fellow. One evening as the shadows began to fall, Martin ran in to his father with the news that a gospel preacher had come to the village and would hold a meeting the following night.
“I must gather in the grapes,” said Jean Michel. “Our bread is more important than listening to preachers.”
“But, Father,” said little Martin, “in my New Testament there is the story of a man who had such a good harvest that he said he would build bigger barns to hold his crops. But that night, God came to him and said, ‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee,’ and that he must die, and oh, Father, he was not ready to die.”
The next day was stormy, but Martin’s father determined to gather in his grapes. Martin stayed in the house. As the day wore on, the storm grew worse. Great black clouds filled the sky, loudly rolled the thunder, and great flashes of lightning lit up the heavens in rapid succession. The workers in the fields fled to the nearest shelter, but Jean Michel remained behind busy in his vineyard.
When the storm was past, Martin went out to search for his father. He was horrified to find his blackened body lying under a hedge. He had been struck by lightning. God had called him into eternity. His vintage and the things of this world were of no value to him then. Was he not very foolish in neglecting the need of his soul?
You may soon enter eternity also, my dear reader. Are you ready? Are you saved? Is Christ yours? Or are you losing your soul to gain the world?
ML 02/28/1965