When I was a boy an old man used to visit our village frequently. At one time he was prosperous, but becoming a slave to drink, he had lost a small fortune and with it many of his friends. Like the prodigal mentioned in Luke’s gospel, chapter 15, he had spent his all in riotous living; now he was forsaken and alone.
One day when this old man was walking along the street feeling sad and wretched, he was muttering to himself, “Nobody loves me! Nobody loves me!”
A little girl who had been to Sunday school and who knew of the love of God quietly stole up to him and rather nervously pulling at his coattails said, “Sir, Somebody loves you; God loves you.”
Eternity alone will reveal the effect of that little word “spoken in season.”
Did God really love that poor old man, broken and marred by sin? Most certainly He did, for we read, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).)
ML-04/02/1978