SHORT time ago there might have been seen, in a third-class carriage on one of our Scotch railways, a policeman sitting with a handcuffed prisoner by his side. The man had broken the law of the land, and was going, as fast as steam could take him, to the place where he was to suffer the punishment for his evil deed.
The passengers seemed greatly interested in this man's case. Question after question is put to the policeman as to the cause of his conviction, and the nature of his sentence.
The man had been poaching in the River Tweed, close to the town where he lived; and having been caught and found guilty, he had been sentenced to pay fifty shillings or to suffer thirty days' imprisonment.
“Could he not pay the fine?" the passengers asked. And as he could not do so, he was being taken to prison. Presently a gentleman, an entire stranger to the prisoner, and to all in the compartment, asked whether, if the fine were now paid, the prisoner could go free.
“Certainly," was the answer.
When the train stopped, the policeman with his prisoner and the gentleman left the train. The authorities were seen, and the money was handed over; then the discharge was made out, the prisoner's handcuffs were taken off, and he was free. Another had done for him what he could not do for himself.
This kind action is an illustration of the love of God to man. The prisoner had no claim upon the gentleman who befriended him. And the scripture declares that, "when we were enemies" to God, He gave His Son to die for us. God loved us in our sins, in our state of condemnation, and while we were hurrying on to bear our judgment. And since God is just, and His demands against sin must be executed, He gave his Son to die in our stead, to bear the judgment due to us on account of our sins.
We all have sinned; we have broken God's law, and, do what we will, we cannot pay the debt. As fast as time can take us, we are being hurried along to eternity. How will you treat God, who gave His Son to die, that you might be saved and be delivered from the wrath to come?