She was a poor woman of Glasgow, Scotland—one of a number who earn a scanty living by washing clothes at the riverside. Her only possession was the tub in which her daily task was performed.
One day she had the near-tragic experience of falling into the Clyde; and as the river was deep and the current strong, she was in imminent danger of drowning. No help apparently was at hand. But suddenly a man, a renowned swimmer who had saved many lives, saw her struggles. He plunged into the stream; but only by extreme exertion and well-nigh the cost of his own life, did he succeed in rescuing the drowning woman. She herself had been so long under water that life seemed gone, and only with great effort was consciousness restored.
And now, my reader, what do you think were the first words issuing from her lips?
Do you think it was some expression of anxiety as to her home? Some disclosure of her feelings while in the jaws of death, or on her discovery that she had been rescued? No, nothing of this! Her first words should be a touching lesson for us who have been nearer than she to a far more terrible ending, and who have been rescued, not at the almost, but at the actual cost of another's life.
Her words were, "Oh, how I want to see the man who saved me!" Beautiful exclamation from one who had nearly perished. And now her overwhelming gratitude led her to concern herself about him whose selfless work had brought her back from the brink of death.
The man came at her call. "Oh, sir," she said, "you saved me, a poor washwoman, and I have naught in the world worth giving but my tub. But, oh, if you'll take it, you're welcome, with all my heart!”
The man, no less astonished than pleased, made no reply; but taking his hat, he went round collecting from the assembled crowd. Speedily coming back, he poured all he had received into her lap, enriching her as she never in her life had experienced or expected.
Is it not thus, though in an infinitely higher and more blessed way, that God, having given us eternal life in Christ, with Him also freely gives us all things? Have we, redeemed by His precious blood, experienced deep longings of heart to see the One who has saved us? Then have we made Him indeed Lord of our lives and laid all we possess with all our hearts at His feet? If so, surely we have found that, since "it is more blessed to give than to receive," He will be no man's debtor! Taking to Himself the higher blessedness which is His due, He will pour out to us all that He has received, to share with us the spoils of His own great work. Thus to us shall belong the double and lasting indebtedness which our story illustrates. May we who have been so wondrously saved sing with all our hearts:
"Unto Him who loved us—gave us
Every pledge that love could give;
Freely shed His blood to save us;
Gave His life that we might live;
Be the kingdom,
And dominion,
And the glory evermore!”