Mr. and Mrs. Carson had been friends of mine for a long time, and I knew that they were praying daily for the salvation of their dear son, George. Perhaps there is a son of Christian parents who is even now reading this paper. May this story be a loud voice to your heart.
I was called one day, in great haste, to the Carson home to see George who was at the point of death. Yes, we do not all grow old, and it is a solemn thing to enter the sick room of a young man who has been brought up in a Christian home, and is dying — and lost!
“Oh, my son, my poor George! He is so young, and yet he is dying. How often have I prayed that he may accept the Lord Jesus. Is it too late now?”
I followed his weeping mother into the sick room, and there poor George was lying unconscious, and barely breathing. Suddenly his eyes opened. He looked around with bewildered eyes, and said, “Where am I?”
“You are at home in your own bed, George, right near me,” replied his mother.
“Am I very sick?”
“Yes, my son, you are very sick indeed.”
A terrible look of anguish came over his face.
“Mother, Mother! I cannot die, I am not ready to die!”
Then he turned his eyes slowly toward me and looked long and solemnly, but said not a word. He knew why I was there.
I bent over and asked, “George, I am going to pray. What shall I ask God?”
“Pray that the Lord may give me just one more chance.”
Then he again became unconscious.
We prayed earnestly that the Lord might raise him up again and give him yet one more chance to turn to the Lord and be saved. As we finished praying, we heard him murmur, “I cannot die... one more chance!”
Several days passed, during which the boy was hovering between life and death. Then he slowly began to recover. Little by little he gained his strength, and before long. was able to get up and be again with his family. Their joy was great, but their continued prayer was that he might now turn to the Lord. But I am sorry to say that as soon as he saw that he was going to get better, all serious thoughts seemed to leave him.
He was afraid to die without the Saviour, but he did not seem afraid to live without Him. He was thankful to all of us for our prayers, but remained absolutely silent when we spoke to him of the reality of his need of salvation.
Not long after, in spite of the tears and pleadings of his mother, he signed up as a sailor on board a merchant ship.
Once again I tried to touch his conscience, and spoke to him of God’s mercy in sparing his life, and God’s love in giving His Son to die for sinners.
“Are you going to leave home without Christ, and against the wishes of your mother? Be careful, God is not mocked!”
“Oh, I haven’t given up the thought of being saved. But just now I want to travel a bit, and when I get back home, then we will see. I may speak more about it then.”
Some time later, George’s mother received a letter from abroad, but not from George; it was from the ship’s captain. During a violent storm, poor George had been washed overboard, and they were not able to rescue him.
Right now, as you are reading this paper, God is giving you an opportunity to be saved. It may be your last. What a dreadful thing to be reminded throughout a long lost eternity, that you despised the last opportunity. Why not accept the Lord Jesus right now, and be saved for eternity?
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” Galatians 6: 7.
ML 06/10/1956