God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
John 3:10 hung on the wall of our nursery when I was a child, and was the first I was taught to repeat. I got a prize at the Sunday school for repeating John 3:16, when I was six years old. But, although able to repeat it, I did not persolly believe it, or know its saving power.
When I went first from home, my mher gave me a Bible, and marked with her own hand John 3:16. For her sake, I often read it, but, beyond that, it had no power over me.
A companion, who was a true Christian, asked me, one night, what verse was the means of leading me to the Lord Jesus, for she evidently thought I was converted. I felt unable to answer her, so she asked,
“Is it long since you got ‘eternal life?’”
I hung no head, for I was ashamed to tell I did not have it at all. She drew me to her side, opened my Bible at John 3:16, marked by my mother’s hand, and told me how she had been saved by believing on the Lord Jesus, as He is presented there.
God loved me, God gave His Son to me: I believed, I received everlasting-life. It all seemed so simple. I saw it was for me as well as for her, for “WHOSOEVER” included Annie.
O how different John 3:16 was to me then, for it showed me God as loving me, His Son as given to me and everlasting life as mine. I have it framed in my room. I call it my favorite text; but beer than all, I really believe every word of it, and it makes me happy indeed.
What wonderful love God had for us, that led Him to give His only begotten Son, to die for sinners, and to wash away our sins in His most precious blood!
The Lord Jesus will soon come to call away from this wicked world all who have accepted Him as their own Saviour, to live with Him Forever. Can you say, “Come, Lord Jesus?”
ML 01/31/1943