"A serious accident has occurred at the new drainage works," was the sad and quickly spread rumor that reached our ears the other morning. We found the injured man in the ward of a hospital close by, lying on a bed, terribly bruised and shaken, and as we heard the details of his escape from sudden death, we were filled with wonder.
"Seventy-five feet! and yet not a bone broken, my friend?" said we; "it is indeed the hand of God that has spared your life:" and the young navvy himself seemed to see it in this light.
"And is this a relative who has come to see you?" we inquired, seeing a young man watching by the sufferer's side.
"No, sir; I am his mate," replied the young man; "and a true friend he proved himself to be.”
Turning to the injured man, we asked.
"Had you time to think about your soul as you fell?”
"I recollect praying twice, 'Lord save me!' and then the breath went out of me, and I knew nothing more.”
"I picked him out of the water," added his mate; "he fell on the piles, and pitched over into the water head first.”
"Did he do anything to save himself?”
"No, sir, he was as helpless as a baby. He knew nothing till twenty-four hours afterward.”
"Then you were his savior, my friend, and that is just the way Jesus saves our souls. We can do nothing, we are as helpless as your mate when you picked him out of the water. And now tell me, could you have saved his life, if you had been at the top when he fell?”
"No, sir, for he would have been drowned by the time I got to him.”
"This, again, is a picture of Jesus. We have not to wait for the Savior to come down to us where we are lying in our misery and sin, for Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. He went down into the horrible pit and the miry clay to deliver us. He died on the cross to save us from hell, and He lifts the believer out of the pit of sin and death, and sets him in safety, where no death can hurt him. It is because sinners do not see that they are lost, that they do not trust in Jesus, but try to save themselves. And have you been often to see your mate since?”
"I never leave him, sir, night nor day, for he is so hurt that he cannot turn himself in his bed.”
"In this, your love to your friend, I see again a picture of the kindness of the Savior to the sinner He has saved. As a shepherd carries the lamb in his bosom, so does Jesus keep each of His, near to Himself, neither does He leave us night nor day.”
"Think of all you have done for your poor mate, and remember you have been his savior, and just as you saved him wholly by your own strength and kindness, so Jesus Christ saves from the pit of hell by His own power and love. What you have to do, is to put your sinful soul into His hands, and give yourself wholly up to Him who came to seek and to save that which is lost, and He will deliver you from hell and carry you safely into heaven.”
"ALL HAVE SINNED, AND COME SHORT OF 'THE GLORY OF GOD."
"CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS."
"BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED."