The “news boy” in our picture is much loved, but I want to tell you about a little news boy, a lonely little fellow, that nobody seemed to care about. He should have been in bed that wild stormy night in November. He had no shoes and no hat, and his clothes were soaked by a drizzle of London rain. With a bundle of unsold papers under this arm, he huddled up on a doorstep, just where boys are not supposed to be at that hour of the night.
Poor little unloved soul. Is there anyone reading this paper who feels like that? God loved that dear boy, and He loves you too. It is true that God must sometimes bring us very low, and let us feel the bitter loss of earthly, blessings, before we will let Him bless us for all eternity.
Close to that doorstep came the big rubber-clad steps of a policeman. He stopped by the shivering child and spoke with the stern voice of duty, demanding why he did not find himself lodging.
“Spent my last shilling for papers, sir,” he sobbed, “and papers fell in the mud.”
The policeman had little ones of his own, who were tucked in their warm little beds. He noticed now that the child’s hand was cut and bleeding, and his big heart was touched. “Down that street,” he pointed, “you will find a house marked ‘The Open Door.’ Tell them I sent you. You will be welcome there.”
It was all true, as the boy found out at once. His hand was tenderly bandaged, steaming hot supper provided, and oh such a bed to sleep in, and never a cent to pay. Better, so much better, than his pennies had ever purchased before.
And better, so much better, is God’s welcome to a poor lost sinner than any welcome you have ever found on this earth before. You may enter at the Open Door. It is for you. You have God’s Word for it. Turn not from the Open Door, for it will not always be open. Don’t struggle to buy God’s salvation with any penny of your own, but come just as you are and accept His costly salvation without money and without price. The price was all paid on Calvary’s cross when the Lord Jesus Christ, the blessed Son of God, died in our guilty stead. He bore all the judgment our sins deserved, and now He is a risen and glorified Saviour, offering salvation to you. Jesus said,
ML 11/15/1953