WE once had tea with an old lady of the royal family of God. She was ninety-four on her birthday previous to our visit, and she lived in a small cottage by the roadside. A little stream flowed past the door, typical of the greater stream of God’s goodness, which never failed her. The village, in which she had spent all her life, was a notable place, we discovered—notable for badness, for “they swear, and fight, and drink,” was the description given to us of the villagers.
The old dame, of whom we write, went by the name of Bett Good, for her life was a recognized contrast with the wickedness of the village. Good she certainly was, through the work of the Holy Spirit leading her into ever-increasing likeness to Christ her Saviour.
On our mentioning the name of Jesus, which is always a password with God’s children, the old lady responded, “Jesus! beautiful, beautiful Jesus! Holy Jesus!”
She could appreciate the beauty of holiness, and saw its perfection in Christ. Do you see this beauty in Him, or do you admire the Lord merely as gentle and kind, without regard to His holiness?
We told her our thoughts of Christ were exactly in harmony with hers, at which she broke out with the words—
“None but Jesus, none but Jesus,
Can do helpless sinners good!”
Her old Bible was produced, with its cover carefully sewn on, and many of the leaves stitched in. We read the aged saints’ charter, John 14, and when the many mansions were mentioned, she chimed in, “And I want to go and see them.”
What wonder that a princess should wish to view the palace of her Father!
We paused a moment over the word “If—” “If it were not so.” Did it mean there was any room for doubting? Did she ever say “If,” and yield to doubt? “Most certainly not,” was her simple answer; “but I feel nohows sometimes.”
“And what do you do then?”
“I say, oh! all you bad thoughts and bad feelings go out of me. Jesus, Jesus, come in to me, fill me.”
A good remedy for bad thoughts and bad feelings! And when Jesus fills the heart there is no room for fears.
In the course of our conversation, we repeated John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16), “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“Oh! that does me good,” exclaimed the old woman.
“You don’t believe in Jesus, do you?”
“Don’t I? That I do. Jesus, Jesus, I love Him.”
“That’s what I say,” responded the old believer. “I am a sinner, and He has saved me, the good Lord!”
She then gave us a little of her past history. She had brought up a large family, but had always had her wants provided for.
“I never owed anybody anything, and no one can come after me.”
“What a lot of bread you must have eaten in ninety-four years! Mountains of bread! Surely your Heavenly Father will give you the little you still need to the end of your life.”
To this she most heartily responded, she was sure she would not be suffered to want.
She had known many troubles, and had been once robbed of her last farthing, she told us, and this led us to refer to Job and his trials, at which the old saint was so stirred, that, putting up her hands, she began to sing a quaint ditty—
“I remember Job, how he made a stand,
When the Lord laid on him His heavy hand,
And how in affliction he found a Friend,
And so shall we, and the times shall mend.”
But tea was ready, and the singer of nearly a century joined us in saying grace, adding, “May the Lord make us truly thankful, that’s what I say. When I go to bed I sleep, but I soon wake up, and then there’s Jesus always with me. Blessed Jesus! I do praise Him. Don’t know if that’s right?”
This seemed to be a favorite saying with old Bett; we assured her she was quite right, and that the Lord valued such praise. It pleases Him better than fine song or the organ. How many of us, we wonder, praise God with the simplicity of this poor soul? Poor, do we say? No! she was rich indeed.
Before we parted, she gave us a little bit of gospel that was worth its weight in gold.
“Do you know where my hope is?” she asked. We guessed, but wished to have it in her own words, so encouraged her to proceed. And she said, “In Jesus, lovely Jesus. I say to Him, You saved me, Lord. You did die for sinners. You saved me. I am a sinner.”
Reader, is this your hope? Try Christ, the Saviour of sinners, for old Bett’s way is God’s way. Jesus the Saviour, the Saviour for sinners. Jesus the Saviour, who died for, or instead of, sinners. Lord, save me, I am a sinner! He is the only way of salvation.
As we left her cottage, she gave us a farewell exhortation in these words— “Stick to Jesus. Don’t let Him slip. Let everything else go. Give up all, but stick to Jesus.”
Three years after, some of the same party were again in that village, but they could not find Bett Good. The princess had gone to the palace.
W. L.