A young man was once awakened to cry, "What must I do to be saved?"
He went to a friend who was a professing Christian, and unburdening his mind, eagerly and earnestly besought him to tell how salvation was to be obtained.
His adviser declared that if he patiently waited, in "God's own time" he would get what he searched for.
"But how long am I to wait?" he asked.
"I cannot answer that question," was the reply.
Months and months passed on. He "waited" and "waited" "God's time." His agony of soul increased and grew more intense.
At last he resolved to call on another friend, and seek his advice. This person told him that instead of "waiting," he ought to pray earnestly to God for pardon, and he would obtain it.
"How long am I to pray?" asked the anxious inquirer.
"You must just continue praying, and in due time you will receive it," was the reply.
He prayed earnestly, and begged God to give him salvation. For years he continued striving and agonizing in prayer to God, entreating Him o be reconciled, and imploring Him to have mercy on his soul.
Afterward he began to think that his friends had both given wrong advice, and resolved to seek the counsel of an earnest Christian and see how he had received the forgiveness of his sins.
Having told what his other friends had said, and how he had been "waiting" and "praying," this Christian pointed him to God's simple plan of salvation. He showed that all the time God had been waiting, and had been beseeching him to be reconciled, that Jesus had already taken his place, died in his stead, satisfied the law and paid his debt.
He saw his mistake, and immediately "took God at His word," and rejoiced in the liberty which the truth alone can give.