Far away in a hospital on the banks of the river in a foreign land, a young soldier lay seriously ill. He had been badly wounded the day before in a battle, and it was very uncertain whether he would recover.
Standing by his side and holding his fevered hand, was one of the Lord’s own servants, who sought to care not only for the bodies but also for the souls of the wounded. He quoted the words,
“None but Jesus, none but Jesus, Can do helpless sinners good.”
The suffering soldier opened his eyes. Those words were once so familiar to him in his boyhood days when he attended the little Sunday school in his native village. Now they seemed to bring back to his memory long forgotten words which he had heard and learned then. Drawing the earnest soul winner close to his side, he gently whispered, “I have a prang mother.”
“That’s good, but you need Jesus, Donald; Jesus alone must save.”
Pointing to his tunic, he asked the visitor to take a packet of papers from his pocket, and drawing one from the bundle he handed it to his newfound friend. It was an earnest, loving appeal from his aged mother, pleading with him to “trust in Jesus,” and with it was a sweet little verse from his own little girl, who had sat by Granny’s side as she wrote to her soldier boy. Day after day, the earnest Christian worker visited the wounded young man, and spoke to him of Jesus, believing that God who heard that mother’s cry would bless His own Word to his salvation. Nor was he disappointed, for the wounded soldier told him he was “cleansed in the blood of the Lamb,” and ready to go, should God call him away.
We are glad to tell you that the young soldier did not die, but that he lived, and wrote home to tell the glad news of his salvation.
“Praise the Saviour!
Magnify the sinner’s Friend.”
ML 03/21/1965