I do wish,” said a lady, speaking of her daughter to a friend, a man of God, who was visiting her, “ you would speak seriously to Caroline. She does not care anything about the salvation of her soul;” and, so saying, she went out of the room, and left them together; upon which he, seeking, as Paul did to the Corinthians, to catch her by guile, and pretending for the moment to take her part, said, “ Now, tell me, Miss Caroline, are they not wearying you with this subject?”
“ Yes, sir, they are,’’ she replied, taken quite by surprise at words so unexpected from him; “ they keep continually talking to me about it, till I am tired of hearing them.”
So I thought,” he replied. “ Let’s see: how old are you?”
“ Eighteen, sir.”
“ Have you good health?”
Yes, sir.”
“ The fact is,” said he, “ Christianity is a good thing in itself; but the idea of continually troubling a young creature like you with it!” And then, pausing a moment, he added, as though a new thought had suddenly struck him, “ I wonder how long it would do for you to wait before you turn to God?”
That’s just what I have been thinking myself,” said Caroline.
Well,” said he, “ suppose you say till you are fifty?”
“ No; that will not do. I attended the funeral, the other day, of a lady fifteen years younger than that.” Thirty: how will that do?”
“ I am not quite sure that it would do to wait quite so long,” said Caroline.
“ No,” he answered, “ I do not think so either. Something might happen. Let us see, twenty-five, or even twenty years, if we could be sure that you would live so long. A year from the present time, how would that do?”
“ I don’t know, sir.”
Neither do I. The fact is, my dear young lady, the more I think of it, the more am I afraid of your patting it off a moment longer, especially as the Bible says: Now IS THE ACCEPTED TIME, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.’ (2 Cor. 6:2.) It says so, you know, and if it does so, is it not wise to act upon it, to seize upon the present moment, to seek the Lord while He may be found, to call upon Him while He is near? Had we not better kneel down and ask God for mercy?”
The young lady, perfectly overcome by her feelings, knelt down on the spot. In a day or two she was believing in Christ, whose blood had washed out her sins. Rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, she was accepted in the Beloved—eternally safe.
Reader, how is it with you? Is this mighty question settled in your case?
“ Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”