There was joy in heaven the night that a young girl, whom we will call Sarah, took her place as a guilty sinner before God, and accepted Jesus as her Savior. There was real joy in our hearts, too; for we longed to see her saved. The seed sown in her heart had taken root, and brought forth good fruit. It was not a shallow conversion, but a really deep work in her soul.
Shortly after this, Sarah asked to be, and was baptized, publicly confessing Jesus as her Lord. She seemed to have a really earnest desire to please the Lord, and to live for Him. For several years we could see good spiritual progress with this young Christian.
But one day, Sarah met a very nice young man. Little by little this acquaintance grew, and his attentions to her became more serious. He was perfectly all right as far as this world is concerned, and might have been a model young man, but he was unsaved. He did not know Christ as his Savior, and that should have been enough for this dear Christian girl. She was warned of the danger, and her attention called to God's plain word which says,
Of course, Sarah did not at first expect to go so far as to really marry an unconverted man; but when we start out on a wrong path, there is no telling how far we will go in that path. It is very much safer not to enter into a wrong course, than to attempt to stop when we have taken a wrong step or departed in the least from God's written Word.
When Eve, in the garden of Eden, left the plain word of God in speaking to Satan about the fruit she was told not to eat, she had opened the door to that arch-deceiver, and before long had sinned by doing exactly the thing she was forbidden by God to do. Dear young Christian, it is very important to take the Word of God simply as it is; and when warned of something to
Sarah's history followed the same sad course as that of many others who have failed to heed God's warnings in His Word. In the course of time she joined herself in marriage to this amiable, but unsaved man. This dear Christian girl had linked herself for life with one who knew not her Savior, and with whom she could not have the slightest fellowship in the things of the Lord. The One who was precious to her as the One who died for her on the cross, meant nothing to him. Sad, sad, indeed is such a union, to say nothing of the reaping time that is always sure to come.
For some time there was nothing to indicate the Lord's displeasure at her disobedience. The Lord is patient and longsuffering, but we shall surely reap what we sow (Gal. 6:77Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)). All who disobey do not reap in the same manner or at the same time, for the Lord knows how to judge and when to do so. If we have sinned, He looks for true repentance and confession, but even then there is a reaping according to His love and wisdom.
Later, Sarah and her husband moved several hundred miles from the city. She had now cut the ties with the Lord's people she knew, and the meetings she used to enjoy. We heard nothing of her for a long time.
One day the news reached us that a big prairie fire had swept through the country where this couple lived. To our sorrow we learned that our dear sister had been severely burned and was in a hospital. Later we got more details as to the fire. When they saw it coming, they left their new home, and getting into their car tried to drive away from the fire. But the blaze advanced rapidly, ever faster and faster, until they decided to leave their car and take refuge on the sheltered side of a large rock. There was hardly room enough for two at the one end; so Sarah's husband took shelter a short distance away around the corner. After the fire had passed, he came out and went for his wife. To his terrible dismay, he found her in a most pitiful and helpless condition. The fire which had passed where he stood without touching him, had whipped in and hopelessly burned her. She was rushed to the hospital where everything possible was done to relieve her suffering and save her life. All efforts were of no avail; and after several weeks of the most intense suffering, she went to be with the Lord.
Neither the house from which they had fled, nor the automobile they left was touched by the fire. Had they remained in either the one or the other, they would have been safe. She would have been safe only a short distance from where she stood, but the Lord allowed this sad thing to overtake her. She had failed to glorify God in her body, and the Lord took her home.
Some may wonder that her husband was unhurt. But judgment begins at the house of God. Sarah knew better, and had been warned of the consequence of disobedience. Not that her husband was better off by being unsaved; for just think of the awful doom of the lost throughout eternity—the lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth forever. He was preserved from the prairie fire, but he is not secure from the lake of fire. On the other hand, she was saved from the judgment to come, and will spend eternity with Christ in glory; but her life down here, as a Christian, was a failure, and she was taken home in God's dealings with His children. We, as God's children, are responsible to walk as His children, and He deals with us as with sons. We cannot escape His governmental dealings.
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” 1 Peter 1:14-1714As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: (1 Peter 1:14‑17).
The meaning of “if ye call on the Father” is “since you are children and address God as Father.” Therefore let us walk carefully and seek grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12:2828Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (Hebrews 12:28)).