“Take the book, Dad, please take the book,” pleaded 11-year-old Maria. “You can read it tonight dung your break.”
“No, Maria, I don’t have time. Where’s my lunch?”
“On the kitchen table, Dad.”
As he disappeared into the kitchen, Maria slipped the little book into her father’s coat pocket. Her father, lunch in hand, picked up his coat, gave Maria a kiss and walked out the door.
“Please, Lord Jesus,” prayed Maria, “make Daddy read that book. I so want him to know You.”
Two years earlier, Maria’s mother had died. She took care of her father alone, washing his clothes, cooking his meals and taking care of their little home in central Chile. She liked school and studied hard, but her real joy was learning more about the Lord Jesus Christ. Maria had learned that “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)), and she had accepted God’s gift.
Now she was concerned for her father. After her mother’s death, he had become sad and indifferent to everything around him. Her efforts to bring him to the Lord Jesus Christ had not succeeded. When a missionary came by one day with Christian books, Maria had an idea—maybe her father would read a booklet.
After she told the missionary what she wanted, he gave her a booklet, saying, “I think he might read this one.”
All Maria could do now was pray and hope. Perhaps tonight her father would find the book in his coat and read it.
The explosion at 1:10 a.m. shook the mining town awake. Sirens wailed. The townspeople rushed to the mine entrance, fearful of what they would find. Maria was among them. She watched anxiously as a beehive of men desperately dug out the caved-in mine entrance. They pulled out debris and shoveled out dirt to make a passageway for oxygen, then went in to search for any survivors. After what seemed like hours, there was a scream of joy. Some had survived! With other girls and mothers, Maria huddled at the entrance to watch the men come out. But her father was not among them!
The hours dragged by, on and on into the next day. With each passing hour, hope faded. The missing men had been caught deep in the mine. Late in the second night, they found them, One of the searchers described the scene: “As we were digging deep in the mine, the ground gave way suddenly. Once the dust had settled, we saw the bodies—they were in a circle, all eight of them. One man had a small book in his hand, and it was opened to the last page. With a piece of charcoal he had scratched out a message: ‘My dearest little Maria, when you read this, I will be with your mother. Thank you for putting the little book in my coat pocket. I read it several times and all the men listened. I did what the book says and accepted Jesus as my Saviour. I love you very much. One day we’ll all be together in heaven. All my love, dearest Maria, and God bless you.’ "
Maria, though heartbroken, was so thankful that her father had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He almost had waited too long. Doesn’t this show God’s tender love in seeking those who will believe on Him? In Maria’s father’s greatest time of need, God saved him. It was Maria’s love for her father that was used to lead him to the Saviour. Her love for her father resulted in his turning to the Lord Jesus.
ML-08/16/1981