The station was nearly empty as we waited for the 7:10 a.m. train that would take me into the city several hours away. We were a little surprised to see a uniformed officer standing beside a young man in the waiting area.
Soon the train pulled in. With a wave to my friends I climbed aboard. Leaving the officer, the young man also came aboard and sat down behind me next to a woman. She seemed to know him, and they began visiting.
For me it had been a very full weekend, with not enough sleep. So I settled down for some much-needed rest. But sleep would not come, as I became too interested in the conversation taking place behind me. You might call it eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help overhearing the man’s story.
“He gave me $20 and told me to stay out of trouble, but I never did anything wrong,” the young man reported. He then related something about drugs being involved. From the bits and pieces of the conversation I learned that he had just been released after serving a prison term - I didn’t hear how long. The officer that I had seen on the train platform was a prison guard in charge of his release.
The woman was an old acquaintance, and they talked about days gone by, favorite foods and families. Finally she said, “What you need is faith.”
I listened carefully, but no further words were spoken to explain this remark, except the mention of a certain church. What was he to put his faith in? In that church?
The trip was nearing an end. The city skyline grabbed our attention, and soon we were at the end of the line.
As I rose to leave, I felt compelled to apologize for eavesdropping and handed the man a little something to buy food. But, more importantly, I gave him something to feed his starving soul: a gospel tract, telling of the faith that saves - the faith in Jesus Christ.
I don’t know where this man is today. I do pray that God touched his empty heart and caused him to repent of his sins and cry out for mercy.
God is love. He longs to wash away the sins of each one in the blood that Jesus shed while hanging on the cross. Only then can anyone find forgiveness, peace and a hope beyond this life. “By grace are ye saved through faith. . . . It is the gift of God: not of works” (Ephesians 2:89).
Working will not save me;
Purest deeds that I can do,
Holiest thoughts and feelings, too,
Cannot form my soul anew;
Working will not save me.
Jesus bled and died for me;
Jesus suffered on the tree;
Jesus waits to make me free;
He alone can save me.