In a certain fine house, luxuriously furnished, a mighty transaction took place a few years ago, under simple, yet, in their way, remarkable circumstances.
The lady of the house had two objects of special regard—her rare old china, and her niece Mabel. So fond was she of the former, that she would never allow a servant to dust it, but asked Mabel to undertake this duty for her. Mabel, who loved her aunt, gladly took the responsibility thus laid upon her; and every morning you might find her busy as a bee, dusting the treasures, and singing merrily as she did so. She was a very happy, lighthearted girl at all times, and was a general favorite.
One morning, however, while at her dusting, she felt she could not sing; she went through her work quite mechanically, being evidently absorbed in deep thought. This new, quiet mood lasted for many days, and the servants were puzzled to know what it might mean. Her aunt was away from home for a time, and Mabel was very much alone: but it was not her loneliness that was affecting her. Trouble of soul was the cause of her seriousness and silence.
She had picked up a book called "Grace and Truth," and before she had read three pages of it she had become alarmed. The passage that first startled her read thus:—
"I have in my mind at this moment an accomplished young lady, amiable, kind, and dutiful, surrounded by all that can make life happy; one who has her neat Bible or Prayer-book, and is seen most regularly and religiously in her seat in church or chapel every Lord's Day, who takes great interest in deeds of charity, visits the poor, and—is very happy. No one ever dared to say to such a one, 'You are on the broad road that leadeth to destruction.' It would be considered highly improper so to do. Perhaps this silent page may be before your eye, and now it would say to you what has been so long unsaid, 'Stop! are you ready to meet God? where shall you spend eternity? If you were separated this moment from all the dear friends around you, and all those happy scenes, and that comfortable home, and were standing before God, what would you have to say?... You may be a princess, or an empress, but one word expresses God's estimate of you, and that word is—sinner'."
This paragraph had awakened Mabel from her dangerous sleep, and startled her into a resolve to find out what course to pursue in reference to her soul's salvation. With her Bible she read, and searched, and prayed. She found that God said of the people of this earth.
"There is no difference; for all have sinned," then, just as despair was coming over her at the thought of her lost and ruined state, she came upon the old, old words which she knew (in her memory) so well:—
"God so loved the world" (and surely, she thought, with a dawning of fresh hope, I am part of the world) "that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 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).
A new light broke upon her. Why had she never seen the simplicity of all this before, that though "dead in sins," Jesus was given by God to die in her place, her stead, and that what He asked of her now was to believe this, and "have," take— "everlasting life?" She said, half-aloud,
"I will take Him at His word."
"But when?" whispered her conscience.
"Now!" she replied; and, laying her duster upon a chair, she knelt down and said,
"O Lord, I do believe that Jesus died for me, that I might have everlasting life. I take Thy gift, and thank Thee for it. Help me to live to Thee, and serve Thee faithfully, for Jesus' sake. Amen."
Then with the consciousness that she had done what God asked her to do, and that He had given her what He promised, her heart became lightened. She rose from her knees, and finished her dusting with "a new song" in her mouth.
Dear, reader, does this seem to you a simple way of being saved? It is God's way—Believe and Receive. The story which I have just related is a simple fact. That dear girl lives today, an earnest, devoted Christian. Do you want Christ—pardon—everlasting life? Then do as Mabel did. Believe God's statement about yourself—and about Jesus—just where you are.