I was holding gospel meetings in a small mining town. A middle-aged miner came to me at the close of one of the services and said: "I would like to be a Christian, but I cannot receive what you have said tonight."
I answered, "My friend, why not?"
"I would give anything," he said, "to believe that God would forgive my sins; but I cannot believe He will just forgive them if I turn to Him. It is too cheap."
I looked at him and I said, "My dear friend, have you been at work today?"
"Yes."
"Where have you been working?"
He gazed at me, slightly astonished, and said: "I was down in the pit as usual."
"How did you get home?"
"Oh, I walked home along the road."
"But how did you get out of the pit?"
"The way I always do. I got into the cage and I was pulled to the top."
"How much do you pay to come out of the pit?"
He showed astonishment as he said, "Pay? Of course I don't pay anything."
Then I questioned him: "Were you not afraid to trust yourself to that cage? Was it not too cheap?"
"Oh, no," he said. "It was cheap for me, but it cost the company a lot of money to sink that shaft."
And without another word being said, the truth of that admission broke upon him. The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and he saw that he could have salvation without money and without price. It had cost the infinite God an infinite price to sink the shaft of salvation and draw lost men into the light of His love and grace.