A retired judge and an ex-convict knelt side by side in prayer at an evening prayer meeting. Over ten years before the judge had sentenced that man to prison. After the meeting, the judge and Ken, his friend, were walking home. He remarked to Ken, “Did you notice who was kneeling beside me tonight during our prayers?” “Yes,” Ken replied, “I certainly did.”
The old judge thought for awhile and then exclaimed, “What a miracle of the marvelous grace of God!”
Ken quickly replied, “Yes, I must agree with you. It was certainly a great miracle when God saved that man from a life of crime and from an eternity in hell.”
The judge stopped walking, and just stood there for a moment staring at his friend. Finally he said, “I wasn’t thinking of that man when I commented about ‘the miracle of the marvelous grace of God.’ I was thinking of myself. That man knew full well that he had a real need. He knew that he was bad and needed a change of heart and a new life. It was not difficult for him to believe in Jesus Christ as his Saviour when he heard the gospel. But it was much different for me.
“From a child I was trained to be a ‘good boy.’ I was made to say my prayers. I was taught to tell the truth and not to lie. I was taken to Sunday school and church regularly. On the outside everything looked good with me, but my heart was just as bad and sinful as the heart of that man. It took a miracle of the marvelous grace of God to make me see myself as a sinner in need of a Saviour, and then to cause me to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord. The truth is I needed a Saviour just as much as that burglar did. I needed a new heart and a new life just as badly as he did.
“Oh, how I must thank God for His saving grace when He finally reached my stubborn heart with His message of love. That is why I commented upon ‘the miracle of the marvelous grace of God'!”
Have you seen your need of a Saviour? The Lord Jesus said, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Matthew 9:13. You must confess to yourself and to God that you are a sinner and in need of a Saviour. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15. The burglar and the judge, though far apart as far as their lives were concerned, were equal in their need. Sin makes everyone equal in God’s sight: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. It makes the king and the beggar alike in God’s sight. “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among pries, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.” 1 Samuel 2:8.
ML-07/13/1980