SUSAN E. lived in the little village of R—. When a little child the thought of eternity would often come to her; but as she grew older, such thoughts became less frequent, until after she had left home for service, when she became very unhappy; she could hardly tell the cause of her trouble, but there was something she seemed to want.
One day when Susan had been to see her sister, she gave her a book to take back to her place; she looked at the gift, and did not care to have it, as she saw it was a religious book, but as her sister pressed her to read it, she took it back with her, and began at the beginning, thinking, as she had taken it, she would read it all through.
One evening, as she sat reading, she came to these words, “Reader, are you saved?
Oh, answer this question to yourself, before you put down this book! “Susan knew she was not saved, and she felt that her sins were so dreadful that she should go to hell if she died unforgiven.
With this question in her mind, she went to bed, but not to sleep; Satan was near her, for she had been a true slave to him, and he did not want to lose her, so he bade her not to think of dying yet, as there would be plenty of time to think of such a subject when she was older; but Susan seemed to hear another voice whispering to her sin-stricken soul, "I died for thee, My child," She knew it was the voice of Jesus, and oh, how she longed to cast her sins on Him, to be free from the load, and to find rest!
But she thought she must do something before He could accept her; and thus she went on from day to day, carrying the load of sin, until at last she thought of writing to the friend who had given the book to her sister. This friend could feel for Susan in her trouble, for she had known what it was to be in sorrow, on account of her sins, but was now quite happy, knowing that the Lord Jesus had borne their dreadful punishment in her stead. So when she received the letter, this was what she wrote in reply—
“Dear Susan,—You ask me what you can do to be saved; now there is nothing for you to do, but simply to trust in Jesus. Go to Him as you art, for His own words are, ' Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out.'
“The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin,' not from a few sins, or from many, but from all. Jesus has done it all for you; for He left His home in heaven, and came to seek and to save the lost.”
It seemed to Susan too good to be true that there was nothing for her to do to be saved, and it was not until some time after this that she found what a blessed Saviour Jesus is. But having found what she had so long sought, she was so happy that she could not keep that joy to herself; she felt she must tell others of Jesus and His love. She wrote to her friends at home, telling them how very happy she was since she had found the Lord; and that what Jesus had done for her He would do for them also.
Susan thought they would be pleased to hear such good news, but they could not understand it. One sister came to see her, and told her not to be so foolish as to think of such things, and not to set herself up to be so much better than other people. "Dear E.," said Susan, "I do not want to set myself up: by the grace of God I am what I am; but if you felt as I do, you would be glad to tell others of it.”
When some of her friends said that she would go out of her mind, Susan thought of what was said to her Master when on earth, how His friends said, "He is beside Himself.”
Nearly four years have gone by since Susan began to trust in Jesus as her own dear Saviour, and she still feels that she must do what she can in telling others of His great love. God has been pleased to use her as an instrument in His hand, in leading many little children to Himself; may He use this simple story to lead someone to Jesus! E.