IT was a little cottage, a small company, and a young and untrained preacher. But the Spirit of God was there in convicting power, and as the speaker pressed upon his hearers the importance of accepting God’s great salvation, the soul of one young woman was thoroughly aroused by the stirring question, “How shall we escape we neglect so great salvation?”
As she passed along the country footpath on her homeward way, these words were ringing in her ears, wakening the slumbering conscience, and causing deep anxiety as to her eternal destiny.
But the devil, the great enemy of Christ, was there, and at once set to work to hinder this precious soul from heeding God’s warning yet loving voice, and he had a capital tool with which to work. Christmas was drawing near with its round of gaiety and pleasure, and our young friend was to take no unimportant part in the tableaux vivants and other amusements which were being arranged for the close of the year. She knew that if she confessed herself a follower of Christ, she could not consistently take part in these worldly entertainments, and accordingly she endeavored to stifle the voice of conscience and forget the warning words she had heard. But this was not to be. At the house where our young friend was in service, there lived a Christian coachman who had placed on the walls of his coach-house a large sheet-almanac. In the course of her work she had to go to the stable every day, and to her astonishment and dismay found the question she was trying to forget staring her in the face, “HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE NEGLECT SO GREAT SALVATION?”
But in spite of this earnest appeal to her soul, she still resisted. The weeks passed by, and Christmas came with its round of merrymaking, fun, and frolic; but though she took part in it all, there was no pleasure for this sin-burdened soul. A short time after she confessed to a Christian friend that it had been the most miserable Christmas she had ever spent, and now, disappointed with the world and its misnamed pleasures, she turned to the loving Saviour, and, blessed be His name, she met with a hearty welcome and found true joy and satisfaction in Him.
Reader, a few days ago, you doubtless got from many loving lips the kindly greeting of “A merry Christmas, and a happy New Year.” If you have come as a guilty sinner to the Saviour, you have found in Him the secret of all true joy and happiness, and can ring with us―
O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,
And found in Thee alone,
The peace, the joy, I sought so long,
The bliss till now unknown.
Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me,
There’s love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee.”
But if your heart is still held captive, and your eyes dazzled by this world’s glittering show, it must be said of you, as the late R. M. M’Cheyne wrote of a relative of his, who said she was determined to stand by the world: ―
“She has chosen the world
And its paltry crowd;
She has chosen the world
And an endless shroud;
She has chosen the world
With its misnamed pleasure;
She has chosen the world
Before Heaven’s own treasure.
She hath-launched her boat
On life rigiddy sea,
And her all is afloat
For eternity.
But who may tell
Of the place of woe,
Where the wicked do dwell,
Where the worldlings go?
Away, then―oh, fly
From the joys of earth;
Her smile is a lie,
There’s a sting in her mirth.
Come, leave the dreams
Of this transient night,
And bask in the beams
Of endless light.”
These verses were received, read with a careless smile, and put away in a drawer to be forgotten. A few years later this earnest servant of the Lord passed away at the age of twenty-nine. The news of this early death was a great shock to the young lady, and reminded her of the solemn message she had received from him.
After searching some time among her papers, she found the verses and read them again in a new light-the light of al” early death and a long eternity. They came to her as a message from the unseen but very real world beyond the grave, and became the voice of God to her soul.
At the beginning of another year, we would appeal to you to make your happy choice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will sane you from the burden of sins, He will Cake away all fear of judgment to come; and as you walk in communion with Him, and engage in His happy service, yes, will find a joy and satisfaction fill your heart, which as far surpasses the pleasure this world gives as the glorious shining of the mid-day sun surpasses the faint gleam of a candle.
“Choose ye THIS DAY whom ye will serve.” “Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart.”
S. H. P.