HE was a middle-aged man, who had been drawn into the British Army to form one of the millions engaged in fighting the Germans. He was sitting in a Soldiers’ Institute in a large camp in the West of England, reading a little book entitled “The Journey and its End,” of which tens of thousands have been put into the hands of our brave soldiers and sailors, and which has been, under God’s good hand, the means of blessing to very many.
A Christian lady was engaged in laying out a few copies of this book on the tables when this soldier beckoned to her, saying he had something to say to her.
“First of all,” he began, “it seems to me a very remarkable thing that you should be coming along here just now with that book in your hand. I must say it made me all of a quiver, and I thought to myself, ‘There it is again! Someone must be doing it. Can it be the Lord Almighty, His very self?’”
“Yes, indeed it can,” the lady responded. “I trust it is Himself who sends the books and will use them in much blessing.”
“He is doing it, lady, I’m sure He is in my case. And I was just thinking, would it be reckoned a misdemeanor if I took away one of those books, for I would like to read it again when I am alone, and then send it to my soldier son in France?”
“What will you tell your son?” inquired the lady.
“Oh! I’ve found out it’s the wrong way I’m going and I want to tell him. I’ve turned, lady, I’ve turned. I am not the same man I was when I came here six weeks ago.”
“How did it happen?” inquired the lady.
“Well, I’ve not been going the right way for some years. Drink and companions were my snare. I always had the thought of my good wife beside me, and knew she was praying for me, even when the glass was in my hand.
“Anyway, thinks I one day, as I was worrying about it, you can leave off the drink a bit. So I slipped away from the rest and came in here for a cup of tea. I said to myself, Here’s another kind of life. What a contrast to those pubs! Why, the folks actually look happy in here. I wonder if I can find out what makes them look sort of satisfied―no grousing nor swearing like the pub.’ Then I found out that though tea was good, apples were the best of all for Thirst, and when a craving came over me I got away by myself and ate an apple. But that did it, alongside of my wife’s prayers, ―I don’t want to leave them out.
“My thoughts soon became clearer and my health much better. Still,
I WANTED SOMETHING MORE.
“The more I thought, the more miserable I felt. All my life kept coming up, bit by bit, like a lot of panoramas, and I was that afraid I dare not sleep. I kept it all to myself, for I did not know anyone then who could help me. And I kept on coming in here and reading the bits of things lying about, and this ‘Journey’ book; and every time I came it seemed to do a bit of good, until last week all at once the misery all seemed to clear off like a pack of clouds, and I have to keep rubbing my eyes now, everything seems so bright and different from what it used to be.
“Now this is what I want to know, lady, Is this what you call CONVERSION? I hope it is, for I do want to be right― ‘right with God’―as I’ve heard them sing. Yes, I am trusting in Him, ―I am, indeed. I have thought a lot about Calvary. I can’t explain what I thought, but I feel as if I’ve got something firm under me at last, instead of shifting sand. Yes, I’m trusting in Jesus Christ; but I hardly like to say His name, I have so often used it ill.”
A week or two later he said, “This morning, before my eyes were open, those words came to me with such force, ‘What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’ (Mark 8:36, 3736For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37)). I thank God, and shall ever bless Him, that mine is safe through the precious blood and death of Christ. I had nearly lost it, though.”
Reader, notice, though this man had the courage and determination to turn from the drink, and he found his health greatly improved, he said,
“I WANTED SOMETHING MORE.”
Yes, something more than reformation is needed, aye, and something more than death in battle—the “supreme sacrifice” as it is called―is needed. A reformed man, but unconverted, is not right with God. A soldier who falls in battle unsaved must be lost forever.
Notice, this man said his soul was safe only
“THROUGH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD AND DEATH OF CHRIST.”
There is no other ground of safety. See to it, I beseech you, that you are on that safe and only ground. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). There is no other way. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God Hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)). Think a great deal about Calvary, and do not lest till salvation is yours, till firm ground is under your feet for eternity.
A. J. P.