SHE was thirty years old―had a husband and four children. Her first illness did not bring her to the Lord. But now once more she was struck down with rheumatic fever; and this time her friends and doctor gave her up.
She was dying, and knew it. A long, long eternity was before her; but where was she going? All was dark―not one ray of light. The pain of the body was nothing now to that of the soul. Hell was in front of her, and apparently no way of escape. She was lost―she knew it, and felt it. Terrible state to be in!
A minister of the Church of England daily visited her, and always brought the same message― “You must be born again.” She would tell him he was not wanted; he was no good to her; that she was lost, forever lost. He said he had been sent by God, and she “must be born again.” He never forgot to call, and never forgot to deliver his message, which only increased her anxiety. There seemed no hope for her, no way of escape.
But God’s time had now come, and her eyes would soon be opened.
She was alone; it was the afternoon, and a voice as it were spoke to her― “I’ve died for you-your sins are many, but My blood has washed them all away. Don’t fear; you are Mine forever.”
No words can describe the peace and joy that now rushed into her soul. It filled her; it overwhelmed her; she burst into tears. She was saved, and that on the brink of eternity. What was life or death to her now She longed to go― longed to see and be with Him who had loved her with such manner of love. Yes, she was saved, and knew it. Reader, conversion is a real thing.
The minister returned the next day, and found her weeping. “I see you have not found the pearl of great price yet.”
“No; but the Lord has found me. I’m saved, sir, certain sure of it. He told me Himself.”
“Why, then, do you cry so? The woman in the fifteenth of Luke, when she found the piece of money, rejoiced with all her friends.”
“Did you ever, sir, know a person to cry for joy? I did cry for fear, but now I cry for joy. I’m saved; I know it, sir.”
He continued to come for weeks after. He saw a remarkable change come over her, and believed it real; yet he seemed not to understand it. He would now sit and listen to her telling of the wonderful love of Christ, and how she knew and experienced every bit of it. But when she put the question to him, “Have you been born again, sir?” there was no response. Nearly fifty years have passed, but all is fresh in the memory of the now aged woman.
Just after her conversion a woman upstairs in the same house was taken ill with typhus fever; but though she reached death’s door, she never appeared troubled about her soul. She got well, and arose from her bed as before―unsaved and unconcerned as to eternity.
And now, reader, here are three states of soul. Which one answers to yours? If you feel yourself lost, I point you to a Saviour who “came to seek and to save that which was lost,” and “who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)). Or are you like the minister, who knew the reality of the new birth, and had even been used to wake this woman up to see her lost condition, but as to himself had never made it a personal thing? Salvation, reader, has to do with you. Don’t be content with knowing God’s Word and even believing it, but take it home to yourself. You are to be born again; you need a Saviour. I pray you make it a very personal thing.
But what if you are unconcerned about your soul—asleep as to eternity, careless―what then? Oh, think; you must meet a holy, just God―a consuming fire. You will stand before Him. You must give it a thought―five minutes alone with God might settle all. He is a God of grace. Trust Him, and be saved.
W. B. S.