Dr. W. P. Mackay left home to attend medical college when he was only seventeen. Before his departure his mother gave him a Bible, with her name, his name, and a verse of Scripture written on the fly leaf. After his years of study, during which he received very high honors, he graduated. Later he became head of a large hospital.
Sad to say, the young doctor also became head of an infidel club. Its members practiced much that was licentious and vile, and they openly ridiculed God and His Word. So darkened had the soul of young Dr. Mackay become that the only thing that gave him any thrill was to have an ambulance unload some patient in a critical condition. Then he exulted in his skill as a physician.
One day a man was brought in on a stretcher. The lower part of his body had been horribly crushed. His face, however, showed such calm and peace that it amazed Dr. Mackay, though he was accustomed to seeing people suffer stoically. After the examination, with a smile, the patient asked, "What is the verdict, Doctor?”
"Oh, I guess we will pull you through and fix you up," replied the doctor.
"No, Doctor; I don't want any guess," the man said. "I want to know if it is life or death. Just lay me down easy, anywhere, Doctor. I am ready; I am saved by God's grace, and am not afraid to die.”
With a face fairly shining with radiance, the injured man continued: "I know I am going to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He says, 'Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out'. I have come to Him and accepted Him as my own personal Savior. But I want the truth. Just what is my condition?”
The doctor replied: "You have, at the most, three hours to live.”
The doctor's heart was touched by the bright testimony. Thinking there might be relatives to notify, he asked: "Is there anything you would like to have us do for you?”
Thanking him, the injured man said: "In one of my pockets is a two weeks' pay check. If you can get it, I wish you would send it at once to my landlady, and ask her to send me the book.”
"What book?" inquired the doctor.
"Oh, just the book," the man answered. "She will know.”
Dr. Mackay arranged for the man's request to be cared for, and then started on his rounds through the hospital. But those words kept ringing through his ears: "I am ready, Doctor. Just lay me down easy, anywhere. I am ready.”
Dr. Mackay had never taken personal interest in any patient, and had never been known to inquire about one. Now, for the first time in his life, he wanted to know how this one was getting along. He returned to the ward where the injured man had been placed, and finding the nurse whom he had assigned to the case, he inquired as to his condition.
"He died just a few minutes ago," the nurse informed him.
"Did the book get here?" asked the doctor.
"Yes, it arrived shortly before he died," the nurse answered.
"What was it? His bank book?" inquired the doctor. "No, it wasn't his bank book," replied the nurse. "He died with it under his pillow.”
"What was it?" asked Dr. Mackay.
"It is still there. Go and look at it," said the nurse.
Dr. Mackay went to the bedside, reached under the sheet and drew a Bible from under the pillow. As he did so, the Bible opened. As the pages turned over to the fly leaf, he saw there, in his mother's handwriting, Dr. Mackay's name, his mother's name, and a verse of Scripture. It was the Bible given him by his mother when he left home to attend college. With stricken conscience he remembered that in a drunken orgy, he had pawned it years before to get whiskey.
Slipping the book under his coat, Dr. Mackay rushed upstairs to his private office. On his knees, he asked God to have mercy upon his lost soul. In true repentance he accepted Christ as his Savior, and came into the realization that, "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8), and that "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8, 98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9).
God's eye was on His precious Word, and upon the equally precious soul of the young doctor. How blessedly He uses His Book to save the souls of poor, lost sinners!
"The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4:1212For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).