“Were I with the trespass laden
Of a thousand worlds beside,
Yet by that same path I enter
The blood of the Lamb who died.”
TO-DAY'S story shall be of very solemn yet very blessed things —solemn because it is a never to- be-forgotten moment in the history of a soul when light from God shows it itself as sinful, lost and unfit to stand before that great and holy Being to whom "the night shineth as the day." (Psa. 139:12.) Blessed, for it is not so much of seeking as finding that I have to write this time, and we have all read in our Bibles (Luke 15) of the joy of the shepherd who, having found his poor straying sheep, "layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost" (Luke 15:5, 6), and we know that the Lord sets before us a picture of His own joy in being a Savior.
I am not sure at what time Lizzie was what the word of God calls "born again." We know that from being quite a tiny child she had loved to remember that God could see her, even in the dark. But as she grew older the thought that at first had brought only joy and comfort became strangely mixed with fear. His all-seeing eye saw she was beginning to understand right down into her heart, and there was sin there, and that sin had borne bitter fruit. Sins of pride, selfishness, unkindness were there, and though no one had ever spoken to her about her need of salvation, and her father and mother always called her a good, obedient girl, the Holy Spirit had awoke her to a sense of her need and danger, and the question, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" (Psa. 139:7) was one Lizzie longed to answer, but could not.
Quite ten years have passed since the night of which I told you on which Lizzie had learned perhaps for the first time the full meaning of the words lost and lonely. She had left school, and as her father, who was in comfortable circumstances, said he did not wish his daughter to earn her own living, even by teaching (her own great wish had been to be educated for a governess), it was decided she should remain at home. She still read her Bible, and often prayed in secret. She could not yet call God her Father. No unforgiven soul can do that, and Lizzie did not know the forgiveness of sins. So another year or two went by, busy years, for as the eldest of a family of three, many household cares fell to her lot, while her brother and sister, both much younger than herself, made many and loud calls on her time and patience.
“A letter from Aunt Orpah," Lizzie exclaimed, as she looked at the postmark of a letter, little thinking as she carried it to her mother what important changes were very near for herself.
Her mother read the letter, then said, addressing Lizzie, "Your aunt sends you an invitation. She wants you to go to her at Reading and stay for some months. I hardly know how to spare you, but if your father does not object, the change will, I think, do you good.”
And so the invitation was accepted, and in little more than a week Lizzie found herself booked as an inside passenger in the coach that then traveled between London and Reading.
On the first Sunday after her arrival her aunt, who had been very poorly for some time, said she was sorry she did not feel strong enough to take her niece to church, and it was suggested that Lizzie should be allowed to attend a Gospel preaching with a neighbor. Lizzie's aunt did not care much for Gospel meetings, or for people who went to them; but as she thought staying indoors all day would be rather dull for Lizzie, she gave a rather reluctant "Yes.”
And so for almost the first time Lizzie listened with wonder and delight to the Gospel—the good glad news of the love of God to sinners. Hence, too, of salvation as a free gift to every one that believeth. Heard that it was possible to know her sins were forgiven because of the value of the finished work and precious blood of Christ.
Would she believe the message, accept the gift, thank the Giver, and rejoice in knowing that for her a new history had begun; that, loved and forgiven, she had passed from death unto life?
You shall hear all about it in our next chapter.