INDIA is a land of villages, grass-thatched, and usually on the bank of rivers. India's millions are found there. To these villages the servants of Christ must go with the gospel, for the natives will not come to a hall to hear it, as in this land. They have their idols, and their religions, and with these they are perfectly content. They need to be aroused to a sense of their need of salvation before they care to hear the gospel, just as people in this more favored land.
As the missionaries begin to sing a hymn, the people,—men, women and children—slowly begin to gather round, and by the time the hymn is finished, quite a little crowd has gathered. Then one tells the story of Jesus and His love: a converted Indian follows, telling how he was saved from idolatry to become a follower of Christ. Some ask questions, such as,
"How am I to believe on Jesus Christ?"
"Will He forgive my sins if I believe on Him?" and other questions much the same as sinners ask those who preach Christ in the homeland—for although there is a difference in the color of their skin, and in their religion, sinners are the same in heart everywhere, and need to be saved by grace exactly in the same way.
In one of these villages there lived a young school teacher, who, when a boy, had been converted in the mission school held by a Christian who lives and labors for the Lord there. He was present at a meeting, and was asked at the close, if he was a believer in Christ.
"Yes," he said, "I do believe on Him with all my heart, but I am not shining for Him, for I have not yet confessed His Name before my friends." That was an honest saying.
Do you know anyone else who is "not shining" for Jesus? Some have hid their light beneath a bushel, and no one knows that they belong to Christ. What a shame it is for one who has believed on Jesus, and knows His saving power, to be thus ashamed of Him. There is little joy in such a life. The happy ones are they who believe on the Lord Jesus, confess His Name, and follow Him.
Very different was the testimony of a dear Indian girl, who, immediately she was saved, confessed Christ in her home, and prayed, thanking God for giving His Son, and for saving and keeping her and others who had come to Him. For this testimony she was cast out.
Clive and Hastings are called the "Heroes of India," and they may be, but the greatest work done in India is by the devoted men and women who have carried the glad tidings of salvation to its needy millions, and who are spending their lives in winning souls to the Saviour there.
When the happy day comes, in which the Lord will make up His Jewels, there will be many from "India's coral strand," who have been saved just in the same way, and by the same Jesus as you.
But, it may be, you are not yet converted, not yet the Lord's. Well, you may be, for He wants to save you, and the way of salvation is the same to you as to India's boys and girls, and here it is,
Messages of God’s Love 2/6/1932