For some time I had been scattering the precious seed of God’s Word in several small towns. One day, with my bag well filled with gospel papers, I went on my way traveling through a large forest. As I emerged I saw the sky heavy with dark clouds. To avoid the rain I waited under the trees at the edge of the forest.
Soon a few children who had been gathering wood circled around me. As the storm came on they seemed to look to me for protection. I sat on a convenient stump and gave them some papers especially written for children. I also told them about the Good Shepherd who “giveth His life for the sheep.” John 10:1111I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (John 10:11). As the rain was soon over, one of the children took my hand and said, “Uncle, come into town with me and tell Daddy and Mamma about the Lord Jesus.”
I followed the children and came upon a little town so hidden that I had never found it before. The hay child led me to her parents, who really loved the Word of God. We spent a happy hour together and I was able “to show them the way more perfectly.”
As I was leaving, these folks requested me to see the dying daughter of one of the teachers. This girl feared death and was anxious to be saved, but no one in town as yet had been there to tell her the way. They pointed out the house, where I found the sixteen-year-old girl, living with her mother in a poor but neat little cottage. The poor girl was very ill. The same disease which had claimed her father in his twenty-eighth year, was hurrying this once-blooming young maiden on to an early grave.
The sick girl welcomed me in. As I spoke of death and eternity, she fell back on her pillow and covered her tearful face with both hands. I told her the consequences of neglecting the saving grace of God in Christ, and how if one dies without this he will perish eternally. I also dwelt on the peace and blessing that comes through faith in Christ. After giving her a few tracts, I left.
Not long after, I was drawn again to that quaint little town, and visited the poor sick girl. I found her sitting in the yard. The faithful mother had carried her there for a few mites. With beaming faces, mother and daughter greeted me.
“I fear death no longer,” said the girl; “the Lord Jesus has removed the sting of it for me. Through His sacrifice on the cross, all is well. In my misery I knew nothing of this, but your words and the tract, “Have I Nothing to Do?” have shown me the way. Now I am saved and happy.”
Yes, she was truly happy, and it was my joy to talk with her about the glorious Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessed hope of the redeemed. I left her with these words, “We shall meet again in His presence,” which she confirmed with a happy smile. Late that fall she fell “asleep in Jesus,” her own Saviour and Lord.
ML 04/28/1968