NOT MANY years ago a man and his wife, with their one little boy, left their native land in Northern Europe, and sailed away off to America. They were very poor, and settled on the prairies in one of the Western States. Here the father took up land, and toiled so hard to get a home that he soon was taken sick and died.
Left alone with her boy, the poor mother worked and worried on till she too fell sick and died of a broken heart. Then everything was sold to pay their debts, and the little Scandinavian boy was left friendless and without a penny. Oh, how sad he felt! He was too small to work and earn his board, so no one cared to take him in. Winter was coming on, too, and where to go or what to do he did not know.
He had an uncle in Chicago who would take him in but Chicago was a great way off. He could not walk that distance, and he could not travel by the railway either, as he had no money for a ticket.
One day, as he was standing by the little country railway station, the eastbound train pulled in, and stopped to let off and take on passengers.
“That’s the train for Chicago,” he heard someone say.
“Chicago,” thought he to himself; “why, that’s just where I want to go. If I only had a ticket now I would soon reach Uncle’s.” But wishing for a ticket would not bring him one, so with a heavy heart he turned to go away.
Just then, however, the conductor shouted, “All aboard!”
“Why, he’s telling everybody to get on,” said the little fellow to himself. Yet he feared to go on board without a ticket. But as he stood undecided what to do the conductor cried again, “All aboard!”
“There,” thought he, “he said it again, and I’ll just do as he says"; so on the train he jumped just as it was moving off, and took his seat among the passengers.
Now there are many children who would like to go to heaven. They know that if they do not get there they must perish. But, like our little orphan boy, they have no ticket; they are sinful, and so have no title to be there. Like him, too, they cannot earn one by their works, for they have no strength to keep the holy law of God.
But Jesus says, I am the way to heaven. He died and His precious blood was shed, and thus He became the way to God and glory. And He is the only way to escape from wrath to come.
All must trust in Him. God’s invitation in the gospel is for “whosoever.” That means all. God’s faithful servants (like conductors on the railways) cry to bankrupt, helpless sinners, “All aboard!” Just believe the message, and step out in faith on Christ. Trust Him; get aboard at once. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31).
When the train had started the Conductor came into the car collecting fares, and crying, “Tickets!” Soon he reached the little Scandinavian boy, and asked him for his ticket.
“Oh,” said he, “I have no ticket.” “Pay your fare in money, then,” said the conductor.
“I have no money either,” said the boy.
“What did you get on the train for, then?” asked the conductor angrily.
“Because you told me to,” he answered.
“I guess not,” said the conductor, “and you get right off at the next station, and keep off.”
Ah, how the little fellow cried with disappointment. At the next stop he got off, and with tearful eyes stood watching the passengers getting on with their tickets in their hands.
“All aboard!” suddenly cried the conductor.
“There!” said he, “he is telling everybody to get on, and he must mean me.”
“All aboard!” rang out again, and once more the lad stepped on the train as it was moving off.
The conductor soon came round again to take up tickets. He frowned as his eye fell on the trembling form of our little friend. “Where’s your ticket?” he asked sharply.
He was very angry when he saw that he had no ticket again.
“You little cheat, you! Didn’t I tell you to get off, and to stay off?”
“Yes,” sobbed the poor little fellow, “but you told me to get on again.”
“I told you to get on again? When?”
“Didn’t you say ‘All aboard’ twice, and didn’t you mean me?”
“Oh, I see,” said the conductor in a more kindly tone. “But where do you want to go, anyway?”
His sad story was soon told. The big conductor’s eyes moistened with tears as he listened.
“You shall have a free ride to Chicago,” he said, “if I have to pay your fare myself.”
And so the little Scandinavian boy reached his uncle’s safely after all.
God in His gospel says, “All aboard!” and He means it. He does not say one thing and mean another, like the railway conductor. And He never frowns on boys and girls who take Him at His word. But He does give them a free passage to heaven. Jesus paid the fare in blood. God accepts the fare; and all who trust in Jesus safely reach the Father’s house on high.
ML-02/10/1963