Getting on a bus one afternoon, I glanced around casually to see if I recognized any of the passengers. I recognized one—my uncle! He had seen me get on, and seeing me looking in his direction, he nodded and smiled. I smiled in return.
When the conductor came around to collect the fares, I had my few coins ready, but I noticed my uncle was getting two tickets!
Passing one of the tickets to me, he said softly, “I’ve got yours, Willie.”
“Oh! Thank you, uncle,” I replied, taking the ticket; “that’s very kind of you.”
Presently the conductor came to me. “Fares, please!” he said. Apparently he had not noticed what went on between me and uncle. Holding up my ticket I said, “I’ve got mine, sir.” He looked a bit puzzled, but when I passed a knowing smile to Uncle, the good fellow understood. “Okay!” was all he said.
A Paid Fare! I thought of another “fare” that had been paid for me; of another kind Friend who had made a journey free and safe for me. The fare was important, and the journey “really necessary.”
My Friend was the blessed Lord Jesus. The price He paid was His own precious blood. The journey which I have now begun will end in heaven. And it was all for the taking! How kind of Him!
How did it happen? you ask. Well as a sinner, I had lost all claim on an entrance into heaven; in fact, I deserved to be banished to a lost eternity because of my sins.
But Jesus died on Calvary’s cross. He shed His precious blood. He was buried in a tomb. He rose from among the dead! Glad words! I trusted in Him and His finished work. I was forgiven, cleansed and made fit for glory. The “fare” that was paid in blood will carry me all the way to heaven and through eternity.
What will you do, then? Try to pay the fare yourself or accept God’s offered one? How good it would be if you could sing from your heart
"Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain;
He washed it white as snow.
ML-11/20/1977