A BOY of tender years clearly and calmly told to some elder Christians who were questioning him, the circumstances under which he had been awakened to the sense of his guilt and led to feel need of Christ as a Saviour. Then came the question,
"What did you do when you felt yourself to be so great a sinner?°'
"I just went to Jesus and told Him how sinful I was, and how sorry I was, and asked Him to forgive me."
But the next answer brought a shadow upon their faces as he was asked,
"And do you hope that at that time Jesus heard and forgave your sins?"—He answered promptly,
"I don't only hope so, sir; I know He did."
There was a confidence in the tone with which the word "know" was uttered that startled the hearers. The oldest of them raised his glasses, and peered into the face of the little witness and said,
"You say you 'know' that Jesus forgave your sins?"
"Yes, sir," was the prompt and unhesitating answer. There was an ominous pause in the examination. Such certainty could only be, it was feared, offspring of presumption. The boy must be resting on some false foundation.
"You mean my son, that you hope Jesus has pardoned your sins."
"I know He has, I know it," with a bright smile on his manly face.
"How do you know it, my son?" every eye being intent upon the little respondent.
"He said He would," said the boy, with a look of astonishment, as if anyone should doubt it.
"He said He would do what?"
"He said that if I confessed my sins, He was faithful and just, and would forgive them; and I did confess them to Him, and I know He forgave them, because He said He would."
The dear boy has lived an earnest and godly Christian life, to attest the sincerity and value of an assurance based, not upon frames and feelings, but upon the sure testimony of the Word of God.
Messages of God’s Love 7/29/1934