BUD ROBINSON was a young boy who lived in Texas. There were many cowboys and ranches in that area, and when Bud was 16 he went to work for a rancher. The rancher was not a Christian, and he taught the boys who worked with him to smoke, dance, and play cards. For three years Bud lived a wild life like the other fellows, never thinking of God, or the fact that he must meet Him some day.
Bud’s mother became a Christian soon after Bud left home to work at the ranch. Right away she began to pray that her children would come to know the Lord. She especially prayed for Bud, for she knew that he was under evil influences, and God heard and answered her prayers in a remarkable way.
One day when Bud was working at the ranch, a preacher came to stay at the ranch unannounced. “I am the circuit rider,” he told the ranchers. “I have come to spend the night with you.” Most of the fellows weren’t very happy at the thought of having a preacher come to stay with them.
Supper was ready, and the crowd of cowboys gathered around the table. Bud reached out for a piece of bread. “Hold on there, young man,” exclaimed the preacher. “We are going to ask the blessing before we eat at this table.” Then he started to pray. He thanked the Lord for the food and prayed for all the cowboys sitting there.
“Now don’t anybody leave the table until after we’ve prayed and read the Bible,” said the preacher. So after they finished eating, he read to them from the Scriptures, and then he prayed loud and long. Every cowboy was down on his knees, and the preacher told the Lord that all these fellows were on their way to hell and he asked God to please stop them before they lost their souls forever. Bud began to squirm.
When the prayer was ended, no one felt like playing cards. Everyone went to bed early that night. Bud couldn’t sleep, for his conscience bothered him.
Before daybreak the circuit rider started praying again and just as loud as before.
He gave thanks again at the breakfast table, and later read the Bible and prayed again. Soon it was time for him to go.
“I’m sorry I have to tell you boys that I can’t make it around here again for another month,” he said, as he rode away. This was good news for Bud, for he knew that if the man came around very often he would surely have to change his way of living.
About a month later, the cowboys heard a voice singing: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!” They knew it was the circuit rider again, and they weren’t very happy about it.
“Well, boys, I can stay two or three days this time,” said the visitor. Bud said to himself: “Just to think of hearing that man pray for two or three days. I don’t know how I’m going to stand it!”
But pray he did those three days. He prayed in the morning, at noon, and at night. He prayed down at the barn, by the haystack, and in the house. By the time the three days were up, Bud was really feeling bay about his sins. He felt that he was the most wicked person in the world.
“I’m going to have gospel meetings on a ranch about twenty miles from here in August,” said the preacher. “I want all of you to come.”
Bud did go to the meetings, and his heart was stirred. He did not know that his mother had been prang for him previously. When the preacher asked the crowd if anyone would like to be saved, Bud was one of the first to respond. He took the Lord Jesus as his Saviour that night, and he was never so happy in his life.
After the meeting he went into the bushes and threw away his pistol. Then he made a little fire and burned up his cards. Free from those evils, he then crawled under a wagon, put his hat on a stump for a pillow, and lay there looking up at the stars. He couldn’t go to sleep because he was so happy. Jesus had come into his heart, and he was free from all his sins.
Bud was so anxious to tell others of his Saviour that he soon started to preach. He had a stammering tongue and many people could not understand him, but he knew that the Lord wanted him to tell others about his Saviour. He could not read either, but he did know the letters of the alphabet, so he taught himself to read.
Bud preached for sixty years until the Lord took him Home to be with Himself. He traveled more than two million miles by pony, train, auto or on foot. He preached over 33,000 times, and wrote 14 books about the Lord.
Is Bud’s Saviour YOUR Saviour, dear young reader? Take Christ as your Saviour today. You will have joy and peace like Bud did.
ML-02/21/1971