A YOUNG man in America was once at work upon his farm. He was careless about religion—indeed, nobody had ever said a word to him about it: and as he had no Bible, and only worldly friends, there seemed little chance of his ever hearing of Christ and salvation, and of heaven and hell.
On this particular day—it was a bright morning in early summer—he had to take his cart, drawn by oxen, along the high road. He was thinking of nothing except his daily work and his, daily bread. A gentle breeze was blowing, and as he went along it stirred a little piece of paper which had been lying by the roadside, so that it fluttered in front of him. But on went the young man, the oxen and the cart, all the same.
When he had gone a short way farther, however, a thought came over him: “I wonder what that bit of paper was? I’ve a great mind to go back and see.” And, stopping his team, he did go back. He picked it up and read it as he walked along. It was a leaf out of the Bible.
The summer passed away, with its flowers and sunshine, and the corn grew ripe and was gathered into the garner. There was another harvest, too, standing ready for the sickle. The young man who had found the leaf lay upon a sick and dying bed. A sore disease had smitten him, and his parents knew there was no hope of his life. They were stricken with grief, but he—oh, he was rejoicing! And now his lips were open to tell them what he had never told before.
The leaf out of the Bible had brought to him first the knowledge that he was a sinner, and then the knowledge of a Saviour. He sought for a whole Bible, and ever since it had been his constant companion: and now, although he might be called suddenly away from life, with all its happiness, he knew whom he had believed, and he was ready. He had an anchor sure and steadfast: for he had believed the Word of God. He had trusted Christ for his eternal salvation: and without a fear or a doubt he entered into rest.
This is the way God is using His Word by the Holy Spirit. Just causing, it may be, one verse to reach the conscience and heart of a man, and thus altering by its power and influence the entire trend of his life. The entrance of Thy Word giveth light. It giveth understanding unto the simple. Thy Word have I hid in my heart.