ED WAS A poor Irish boy. He had no shoes and his clothes were thin and threadbare. He seldom had enough to eat and though often weak and sickly he still got into fights with other boys. Usually, because the other boys were bigger and stronger, Ed was the loser.
One day Ed heard there was to be a gospel meeting. The weather was chilly and it was a long way for a sick fellow to walk. He looked at his patched thin trousers and bare feet; would they let the likes of him in? Still there was a voice inside him that urged him to go, and so off he went.
Ed looked down at his thin right arm. He thought of the big boys who always picked on him. How he’d like Someone to get the victory for him!
The speaker noticed Ed. He saw his tumbled hair, his earnest eyes and bare feet. And he tried his best to talk so the boy would understand.
He spoke of that great enemy, Satan, who clutches people in his power. He spoke of the enemy, sin, that binds us and drags us down. Ed listened and he thought: “Yes, sin and Satan are worse enemies than even the boys that I’m afraid of and hate so.” But how could he get the victory over them?
Then he heard about the Lord Jesus, the strong One, who was born into the world so that He could take our part and fight our enemy. Softly the speaker told of the cross where the Lord Jesus died, and in dying He won the victory over sin and Satan, and death. He proved it too by rising again from the dead. “And now,” said the speaker, “if you’ll join sides with Him and trust Him as your Saviour, then that victory will be yours.”
Ed went home with a happy believing heart. He did not notice the cold nor the roughness of the way. And in the days that followed he didn’t notice the taunts nor the jeers of the boys. Why should he? The Lord Jesus had died for him and now he was on the victory side.
Often Ed thought he would like to tell that preacher that he had chosen the Lord Jesus to be his Captain. But dear Ed was never able to. Not long after going to that meeting he became too sick to go out. As he grew weaker he wanted more than ever to tell his friend how glad he was that Christ had gotten the victory for him.
At last his father sent for the preacher. “My boy is dying,” he said; “will you come?” Of course he would! The preacher came to the poor little cottage where Ed was lying on a straw mat in the corner. He recognized him as the frail, interested little fellow he had seen in the meeting. When the boy saw him enter the room, he stretched out his poor thin arms. Throwing them upwards he cried out in a weak effort: “His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory.” Then the whispered cry ceased; the boy fell back on his straw mat, and died.
But the preacher knew that Ed had believed in Christ. The Lord had gotten the victory and had snatched him out of the grasp of Satan, away from the taunts of a cruel world.
Are you interested in so great a victory? Christ has gained the victory. He shows His love for us now. And there are pleasures for us in heaven “for evermore.” Don’t let Satan rob you of all Jesus died to win for you; don’t let him destroy your soul Forever.
Words of Life
ML-03/11/1973