I hope you have not forgotten that John Wesley lived long ago in the days of your great-great- grandfathers. There were no airplanes, speedy trains or cars in those days. And yet I have told you how John traveled all over England taking the good news of the Saviour. Perhaps you may wonder just how he traveled.
Most often John and his friends rode about on horseback. He usually was up very early in the morning and spent many hours in the saddle. In the winter it was much more difficult. On one trip they rode while the rain and hail froze on their eyebrows and went right through their coats. The next day they were off again through the snow. The day after, the snow was so deep they could not ride their horses so they walked, leading the horses for twenty miles. This they willingly did so others might also hear of God’s way of salvation.
On another trip when John was an old man, a rich man gave permission for John to use his carriage. The road was by the sea and on the way they found that the sandy road was covered with water by the rising tide. John was not a man to let water stop him from telling others of Christ, so he looked out the carriage window and called to the driver, “Take the sea! Take the sea!”
The driver drove through the waves and was quickly surrounded by water. The horses were swimming and the wheels of the carriage often sank into the sand. The driver expected any moment to be drowned, but he saw Mr. Wesley’s white hair dripping with the salt water and heard him ask calmly, “What is your name, driver?”
“Peter,” was the answer.
“Peter,” he said, “fear not; thou shalt not sink.”
At last they got safely over and Mr. Wesley first took the driver to a comfortable place and saw that he was looked after, and then, without a thought that he himself was soaked with the waves, he went on to the gospel meeting to tell others of his Saviour.
When you read of such trips as John made, do you not wonder why you and I are often so slow to take even a short walk or to ride comfortably in a car to tell others of the same wonderful Saviour? As we read of God’s servant may you and I be encouraged to go with the gospel wherever God sends us, whether it be right at home or ever so far away. And may we go whether it be in comfort or not.