A young man was once awakened to cry, "What must I do to be saved?" He went to a friend who was a professing Christian, and, unburdening his mind, eagerly and earnestly besought him to tell how salvation was to be obtained. His adviser declared that if he patiently waited, in "God's own time” he would get what he was in quest of.
"But how long am I to wait?" he asked.
"I cannot answer that question," was the reply.
Months and months passed on. He "waited," and "waited" "God's time." His agony of soul increased and grew more intense.
At last he resolved to call on another friend and seek his advice. This person told him that instead of "waiting" he ought to pray earnestly to God for pardon and he would obtain it.
"How long am I to pray?" asked the anxious enquirer.
"You must just continue praying, and in due time you will receive it," was the reply.
He prayed earnestly, and besought God to give him salvation. For years he continued "striving" and "agonizing in prayer" to God, entreating Him to be reconciled, and imploring Him to "have mercy" on his soul.
At the end of three years he began to think that his friends had both given him wrong advice, and resolved to seek the counsel of another friend, an earnest Christian, and see how he had received the forgiveness of his sins. When he had told what his other friends said, and how he had been "waiting” and "praying," this Christian pointed him to God's simple plan of salvation. He showed that all the time God had been waiting, and had been beseeching him to be reconciled; that Jesus had already taken his place, died in his stead, satisfied the law, and paid his debt. He saw his mistake, and immediately "took God at His word," and rejoiced in the liberty which the truth alone can give.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
"Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee:
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
"Just as I am—and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot:
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!”