Two men had been roaming through the woods during the night in search of deer. They had just one rifle, but they found no deer, or animals of any kind. Toward daybreak, one of the men decided they should go home, and the other insisted that they hunt a little longer. In the argument which followed, one of the men struggled to take the gun from his friend, and by accident shot his friend and wounded him badly.
A short time later, the terrified hunter knocked at the door of a nearby cottage and told the awakened owner of the accident and asked for help. Between them, they carried the wounded man to the cottage and laid him on a bed. They soon realized that just a few more heartbeats and the poor fellow would he gone. He was suffering greatly, but it was neither his bodily suffering, nor his earthly disappointment that troubled him in those solemn moments as he drew nearer and nearer to the gates of eternity.
Two terrible thoughts filled his soul with horror, and the walls of the cottage echoed with his cry, “My sins, my sins—and the judgment day!”
The owner’s wife stood by and listened. She could bear it no longer and she ran to get the dying man a drink of water. As she reached it over to his lips he cried aloud, “Water can never quench my thirst. My sins, my sins, and the judgment day!” And then he passed into eternity!
Now dear children, notice. This man, looked in two directions, backward, he saw his sins; forward, he saw the judgment day. Have you ever looked in these two directions? Can you look back and remember sins that you wish you could forget? And perhaps you are afraid to look forward lest the though of judgment should frighten you. You may be very young yet, and you may think that you have a long time to live, but I would urge you now, with tin, paper still in your hand, to look had and ponder what you are before a holy God. Then look at the Lord Jesus dying for sinners on the cross of Calvary. Take Him as your Saviour and you will then be able to look onward and say,
ML 10/08/1950