TOM was returning to his lodgings one evening after spending a few hours at the theater, where he went to "kill time and amuse himself" as he termed it. Tall, well-built, and of soldierly bearing, he swept a hand across his brown eyes, as his mind wandered back to the jovial companions he had just left behind.
As he approached a small building near his destination, the sound of a voice within attracted him. A well-known preacher was delivering a discourse, based upon the text: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). Tom drew nearer the open door, as if he wished to enter, yet fearful lest any should find him there. The speaker was impressing upon his hearers the necessity of coming to God, the punishment awaiting those who willfully rejected Christ, and the grave dangers to which they were exposed as sinners.
As Tom stood there, memories of the sinful life he had led since his departure from his home some years before crowded upon him. He felt that the wages of his sins would be death indeed.
He walked away with a heavy heart as the benediction was pronounced, believing himself hopeless, fearing the doom, destined to be the wages of unrepentant men.
That same evening he took the neglected Bible his mother had given him years before, searched the sacred pages until he found those words which had wrought such a change in him: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The ending struck him forcibly. "The gift of God," he repeated to himself, and when he discovered God's love to sinners, how He had provided a perfect Savior for their redemption, Tom sobbed like a little child. Precious memories of his happy boyhood surged across his mind. He went back a new man to the home he had left, and had almost forgotten for so long, told the entire story of his sinful past to his aged father, and the wonderful way he was brought to God.
“Poor boy!" his father whispered, as he ended, "you were one of many," but he did not finish, his son interrupted him, "Yes, father, but thank God I am one of the few now who trust in the Lord Jesus," and he quoted those words of Christ's: "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:1414Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:14)),
“I have found it," said Tom, while his eyes shone with a new light, the love of God was shed abroad in his heart, the peace of God which passeth understanding indwelt his soul.
Reader, are you one of the few who have found life? I ask you in all earnestness. Are you trusting in that precious One whose blood was shed a ransom for all? If you are unsaved, the wages of sin is death. The attractions of this world, and the pleasures thereof last but a short time. The King—the Lord Jesus— is coming soon. Are you ready? If you trust your soul into the keeping of Him who said: "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," you are taking the wisest course open to every needy sinful one in the world today. Do it now!
A. M. LEFEUVRE.