A crowd was passing along through the street. As it swept by, a shoemaker was near his shop door, busily engaged in mending a shoe. Sometimes he would stop a little from his work and sing a verse or two of one of the old hymns which he loved. A young man, a student in the university, was passing this particular evening when he heard the cheerful voice of the shoemaker. He stopped and said to him, “Well, my friend, you seem to be happy and contented.”
“I am happy, sir,” said the old man, “and why shouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know,” said the student. “A great many people are not happy. You seem to be very poor. I suppose you have none but yourself to work for?”
“You are mistaken,” said the shoemaker. “I have a wife and seven children to feed and support with the work of these hands. I am a poor man, it’s true, but that is no reason why I should not work and be happy.” “I am very surprised to see a poor workman like you so content, and I don’t understand what can make you so.” “Stranger,” said the shoemaker, laying down his work and taking hold of the young man’s arm with a serious look, “Stranger, I am not so poor as you think. Let me tell you, I am a son of the King.” The young man turned away, saying to himself, “Poor fellow, he is crazy. He is poor, but he imagines he is rich. This is what makes him happy. I was beginning to think that perhaps he might tell me the secret of true happiness-but I was mistaken.”
A week passed, and the student again had occasion to pass the same street. He found the shoemaker sitting in the same place, still busy with his work and singing as cheerfully as before. As he drew near, the young man lifted his hand in a mocking sort of way and, making a deep bow to the shoemaker, said, “Good morning, Mr. Prince.”
“Stop, my friend,” said the shoemaker, laying down his work, “I want to say a few words to you, if you please. You left me suddenly the other evening, as if you thought I was crazy.”
“To tell you the truth, that is just what I did think,” said the young man.
“Well, my friend,” continued the shoemaker, “I am not crazy. What I then said, I said in earnest. It is true-every word of it. I am a son of the King. Just sit down here and listen while I tell you about it.”
Now this young man was a Jew. He had been taught to read the Old Testament Scriptures when he was a child and to believe them. But since he had grown up he had given up his faith in the Scriptures and had ceased to read them. He was like a sailor out at sea who had lost his compass. He could not tell where he was going or how to steer, and this made him feel very miserable. Just as a drowning man will catch at straws, so this young man was ready to catch at anything that seemed likely to help him in trying to find out how to be happy, so he sat down to listen to the shoemaker.
The shoemaker told him of the promises of the Old Testament and about a glorious King who was to be Savior and Ruler of the world. He showed him that all the things that are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms about this glorious King had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He told how He had suffered and died for the sinner and how He had risen from the grave and had gone up to take His seat in glory at the right hand of God. He told how He had sent His messengers into all the world to tell men the good news of what He had done, and all who repented of their sins and believed would be pardoned and made happy. He told him how this glorious King would return to this world to set up His kingdom and how all who love and serve Him now will share the glories of His kingdom and reign with Him.
The young man sat listening with great interest to what this “poor” man was saying. He had often read the promises of the Old Testament, but he never thought of them in connection with Jesus Christ. This was all new to him. He was astonished at what he heard.
“And now, young man,” said the shoemaker, “don’t you see how truly I could say, ‘I am a son of the King?’ Don’t you see what reason I have to be contented and happy? It is because I belong to Jesus. I believe in Him, and I love Him. The Bible tells me that all things work together for good to me and that all things are mine, because I am Christ’s. Isn’t that enough to make one happy?” “Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jer. 15:1616Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)).
“Where can I learn more about these things?” asked the young man. “I see that you believe them, and this gives you peace and contentment. Oh, how I need them!” Then the shoemaker gave him a copy of the Bible. He told him to take it home and read it carefully and to pray over its contents. The student read the Bible diligently and found Christ and the secret of true peace of mind.
Afterward, the young man became a missionary and went out to share with others the peace and joy he had found in Jesus.