Mary was outwardly religious and inwardly self-righteous. She often boasted of her own goodness. Whenever Mr. Parks, an earnest Christian preacher, told her of her need of Christ, she clung to her own imagined goodness and would not let it go.
Finally, a friend of Mr. Parks offered to visit Mary to see if he could help her. When she answered his knock, he told her he had come from Mr. Parks, who had said that she was glad to receive anyone who would talk on religious subjects. Mary began to relate her long history of church attendance, prayers, and upright living.
The visitor sat still and let her tell her story. It showed him how very self-satisfied she was, and how unaware of her true condition.
At last she finished talking about herself. The visitor got up and stood pointing to an old three-legged stool on the floor in front of the fireplace. At once Mary, the self-righteous, exclaimed: "Yes, indeed! It's an old worthless thing, fit only for the fire. It should have been burned long ago."
The visitor now looked her full in the face, and in a serious manner he said: "You are just like that three-legged stool, fit only for the fire." Then, taking his hat, he left the house without saying another word.
Dumbfounded, Mary was left alone with her thoughts. At first she questioned, "What could the man mean?"
Her temper rose high, and to relieve her feelings, she went to her next door neighbor to tell her how she had been insulted and to seek her sympathy.
Mary told her all, indignantly saying as she closed: "And he had the impudence to tell me that I was no better than my old three-legged stool, fit only for the fire."
Her neighbor, a humble Christian, listened quietly, while praying that God would use the visitor's words to show Mary her need of Christ.
Returning home, Mary kept repeating to herself: "Fit only for the fire. Fit only for the fire."
She was deeply distressed and soon went to bed. But she could not sleep. She thought about her life. Little by little she realized that her religiousness was only an outward show. She realized that though she had drawn near to God with her lips, her heart was far from Him. She was convicted of her sinfulness and knew that she was not right with God. While her life might have appeared correct in the sight of those around her, God knew that her heart was not right.
Seeing herself in the light of God's holiness, Mary began to cry aloud in her distress. Her neighbor heard her cries, dressed at once, and went in to find out what was the matter.
"Is there any mercy for me?" cried Mary as she entered. "Oh, tell me! Will God save a sinner like me?"
The Christian neighbor pointed her to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior, who came not to "call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," and to His precious blood which "cleanseth us from all sin."
Mary believed. She gave up all hope in herself and trusted on Christ for her salvation. Peace came and filled her heart; for He who heard the cry of the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner," had heard her cry and answered it. Thereafter, Mary's boast was no longer in her own goodness. She could now say: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Galatians 6:1414But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14).