Jenny Lind was the world-famous Swedish singer of years ago. She used to come to New York and give concerts. One day she paid a visit to a boat anchored in the New York harbor. This boat was a chapel where a man of God named Olaf Hedstrom, used to preach the gospel.
Jenny Lind was at the height of her fame and influence in the musical world at the time of her visit to the gospel ship. She heard Mr. Hedstrom preach and was deeply impressed. After the service she had a long talk with the preacher and he spoke to her faithfully about her need of salvation. Soon they were on their knees in prayer and Jenny Lind was weeping. She well knew the vanities of the world and felt, too, her need of the Saviour. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Scripture tells us in Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13). Jenny Lind did call upon the Lord, and right then and there she was gloriously saved.
The faithful servant of Christ did not mince words. He talked about heaven and hell, about sin and judgment. He pointed her to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29).
After this Jenny Lind wrote Mr. Hedstrom many times, expressing her appreciation for having led her to the Lord. One day she wrote saying she would never appear on the stage or in the theater again. She left it all behind for Christ. Because of this many expressed strong resentment against her religion and against Olaf Hedstrom, but she kept her promise. Never again did she appear in opera.
Some years later a visitor found Jenny Lind reading her Bible. “Why did you leave the stage?” he asked.
Looking out toward the beautiful sunset, the singer said simply, “Because it blinded my eyes to that.” And then looking down at her Bible she added, “And because it blinded my eyes to this.”
At the time of her conversion she had said: “There is no peace in created things. They cannot give happiness, but only increase my anxiety. There is no peace, O God, until my soul finds peace in Thee.”
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
ML-09/09/1979