WE are on a large station. Many people are waiting for a train. The boys and girls are delighted, as the train is to take them away for their holidays at the seaside.
At last it comes, exactly to time, and completely fills the long platform. Doors swing open and many get out, to be welcomed by waiting friends. There is a general rush to find suitable seats and to see that the luggage is put safely in the van. Porters are busy with all this luggage, the mail bags, the parcels, and the milk-churns. At the head of the train, the engine is being changed. For a few minutes all seems bustle and confusion.
But while all this is going on we notice a man who is going about his work in a quiet methodical way, bothering little about all that is happening on the platform and little noticed by the people there. He carries a hammer with a long handle and, as he goes along the train he gives each wheel a smart tap. When he has completed one side he goes back along the other side, still tapping the wheels.
What is he doing? And why? When he has finished we ask him these questions. He tells us that his job is to make sure that none of the wheels of the carriage has cracked. So he gives each one a blow with his hammer and listens to the noise it makes. If it rings clearly, the wheel is all right and safe to continue on the journey; but if the sound is dull, he knows there is a fault in the wheel, and the coach must not go any further.
Do you know that God often tests us in a way very similar to this? He often speaks in our hearts quietly when there is much going on around. Through a preaching of the gospel or through reading a book like this or in many other ways. He would test us by saying, "Are you saved? Do you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior? " No one else may know what is going on in our heart, but God listens intently whether our answer has a true ring. What is your answer? If you cannot truly say that Jesus is your Savior, pray to Him NOW, asking Him to wash away your sins in His own precious blood, so that you may be saved.
To go back to the station, we ask the man what a faulty wheel looks like. He tells us, "It looks just like the others. You could never tell by looking. I tell by the way it rings when I tap it."
Many people try to do their best and keep up a good appearance, but there is no true ring from their heart. Is this how it is with you? If so, turn to Jesus now, accepting Him as your Savior. You will then be able to speak of Him as the One "Who loved ME and gave Himself for ME." This is the true ring that God would desire from your heart.
M. C. M.