"Three months, with hard labor," was the sentence pronounced by the judge. A hardened criminal would not have minded that very much, but to the young prisoner at the bar it was a terrible blow.
He was led away from the dock, and presently found himself in prison garb, and in his cell alone. Then the full shame of his position dawned upon him: this was the result of his waywardness and sin, and what would the end of it be?
The thought of it brought him down to his knees, and he groaned aloud before God. Then and there he made his decision: from that time on he would quit the service of Satan.
Now that was a good decision to make, but it did not give him the peace he sought. He discovered, as many have done before him, that resolutions with regard to the future cannot wipe out the sins of the past. There lay his black record. How could it be met? Could he in any way make amends for that?
"You ought to have prayed before you got in here," sneered the warden, who saw him on his knees; "but perhaps better late than not at all."
But the prisoner heeded neither jest nor scorn; his whole desire was to be right with God.
There were two books in his cell. One of them was a book of instruction on how to live right. The other was a Bible.
To the former the anxious soul turned. He read there deceptive words, for the writer knew not God's way of salvation, and advised his readers to fast and pray in order to secure pardon of God.
"Ah," thought that lonely reader; "I have been praying without fasting. That is why I do not have the peace I seek. I will fast as well as pray."
And fast he did. Much of his food was returned untasted; and while he continued to perform his allotted prison tasks, he felt himself to be getting weaker, his step less firm, until at length it seemed that he must sink to the ground through sheer exhaustion.
In time he seemed to have reached his extremity. He had resolved and sorrowed, prayed and fasted, but he was still a stranger to peace. Then it was with a despairing cry that he took up the Bible.
Ah! blessed Book of God! If he had turned to its pages sooner, how much agony would he have been saved from. It was not a familiar Book to him, and he scarcely knew to what part to turn; but God had His eye on that penitent sinner, and the book fell open at 2 Samuel 12. The first sentence that met his anxious gaze was: "The LORD also hath put away thy sin" (verse 13).
That was enough for him. The heavy burden was eased, the clouds uplifted, and his astonished heart beat forth its gratitude to a pardoning God.
But he did not long remain in ignorance as to how God could pardon and yet remain the just God, for that long-neglected Book became his cell companion. In it he read of Calvary, of the precious blood, and of the resurrection of Jesus, whom Christians gladly own as Lord. He read that marvelous story of redeeming love, and all became as plain to him as the daylight which streamed through the grated window into his cell.
Upon this his soul rested as upon a firm foundation. Yes, he discovered that God had freely justified him by His grace, and that the precious blood of Jesus, the basis of all blessing, had made him clean in the sight of God. Thus, through matchless grace, the prisoner of Satan became God's free man, gladly testifying to all around that "He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).
Christ is the Savior of sinners,
Christ is the Savior for me;
Long I was chained in sin's darkness,
Now by His grace I am free.
Now I can say I am pardoned,
Happy and justified, free,
Saved by my blessed Redeemer,
This is the Savior for me.
Loved with a love that's unchanging,
Blessed with all blessings so free,
How shall I tell out His praises?
This is the Savior for me?