IN a pleasant village situated at the foot of one of the Cumberland lakes lived Mary C., a young girl remarkable for her gentle disposition and her outwardly religious and blameless life. She was seldom absent from the old parish church on the Lord's Day, and was looked upon as a Christian by all who knew her.
Mary lived as a servant in a gentleman's family, and while there she was taken ill. During her long illness she was visited by a Christian lady, well known to the writer, who had been acquainted with her from her childhood.
Notwithstanding Mary's consistent life, this lady was not at ease about her real state before God. She knew that nothing short of being born again could fit her soul for heaven. (John 3:55Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5).) Yet she felt great difficulty in dealing plainly with Mary.
Calling one day to see her, longing for an opportunity of speaking to hereabout her hope for eternity, she found her in a state of great agitation, with a look of intense despair upon her countenance.
Anxiously she inquired the cause of her distress. The poor girl, wringing her hands and bursting into tears, cried, "I am a sinful girl, I am a sinful girl. I've told a lie! Oh, whatever shall I do?”
Before the window of the room in which Mary was then lying grew a very fine chestnut tree. One of its branches had grown near the window, and, being blown against it by the wind, had cracked one of the panes. One day, before her illness, as Mary was cleaning the window, the piece of glass came out altogether. She did not mention the circumstance to anyone, and no notice had been taken of it until this day, when one of the servants, in cleaning the window of Mary's room, discovered the broken pane, and said, "Mary, do you know who broke this window pane?”
“I do not," said Mary. Almost immediately afterward she cried out, "Oh, what shall I do? I am a sinful girl, I've told a lie, I've told a lie.”
The visitor at once saw that God had given her an opportunity of speaking to the young girl about her state. On further conversation with her, she found that she had been resting her hope of salvation upon her own goodness, instead of trusting in the perfect work of Christ. She was shown that "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all" (James 2:1010For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10)), and that she was "guilty before God" (Rom. 3:1919Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19)), and needed forgiveness, life, and righteousness through Christ. The Holy Spirit showed her that her righteousness was as "filthy rags" in the sight of God, and revealed to her Jesus as the Saviour from all sin, and she was led to put her whole trust in Him.
If the reader is trusting in his own doings, or in his own righteousness for eternal life, let him remember that he must be saved out of spiritual death in this life before he can be saved from eternal death in the life to come.
J. I. J—G