“I AM lost, lost! I do not think it is any use trying to be saved,” she moaned.
A— had every reason to feel happy; the friends with whom she lived were God’s own children; she seldom mingled with any but Christians, and by some she was considered converted; but A— felt very differently. She knew she was not the Lord’s; she knew that if she died she would have to spend an awful eternity with the lost.
Many times had A— heard God’s servants proclaim the glad tidings of salvation, and as many times she had turned a deaf ear to the offers of mercy. Now she said to herself, “I have sinned away my day of grace; God has often pleaded with me, but I would not hear.”
The spring of which I write came, but it brought no joy to A—; she needed the Sun of Righteousness to shine in her heart.
While she was in this desponding state of heart, some special services were being held in the town where she lived. One evening she went, and the evangelist, with great earnestness, set forth the gospel of the grace of God, but A—’s heart only grew more desponding. “I have refused so often, it is of no use now,” she thought.
The service ended, A— moved to leave the room, when someone touched her, saying— “You are not happy.”
“No, I am not,” she answered.
“Then stay and have a talk about these things.”
“It is of no use; I have sinned away my day of grace.”
But A—sat down again, and the evangelist quoted the words in 2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2), “Now is the accepted time... now is the day of salvation.” He repeated them twice with great emphasis, and a ray of hope sprang up in A—’s heart. “Can you say ‘I am a sinner'?” he added.
“O yes,” exclaimed A— , “I am lost, lost; I have refused the message of salvation so often and—”
“Then, as Christ said to the woman of whom we read in Luke 7, surely He says to you, ‘Her sins, which are many, are forgiven.’”
“Is it true?” asked A—.
“Yes, God cannot lie. Jesus Christ died for sinners.”
“O yes, I must believe it. What love! He died for me;” and A—’s heart filled with joy.
“Now,” said the evangelist, “read this verse: ‘Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.’” A few words of prayer, and A— hurried home to tell her friends of her newfound joy.
Dear reader, have you yet learned that you, if out of Christ, are lost like A— “dead in trespasses and sins”? O, be warned in time; it is no use trying to save yourself, it will be a miserable failure, as A— proved; but as a lost, guilty, hell-deserving sinner, look to Jesus Christ, who died for such. God grant that you may believe, and you shall find peace and joy in believing.
ML-09/26/1920