"Have you heard the dreadful news?"
"No, what is it?"
"Poor old John is dead. He fell over the cliff last night."
"How dreadful! But tell me, isn't that the old man who has worked on the roads for so many years?"
"Yes, he often boasted that he could find his way about blindfolded."
"When did he fall over, and how did it happen?"
"Last night he went to town to get his pay and then to the bar with some friends. After an hour or so he started to walk home by the cliffs. It had been snowing for some time and there was a nasty driving wind blowing which almost blinded him by blowing snow into his face. They tried to persuade him not to go that way."
"And he would not listen to them?"
"No. He laughed and said: `More'n forty years I've known the path, and could find it in the darkest night that ever was.'
"He started off across the field and up towards the top of the first cliff. He reached it, for they have traced his footsteps that far. Then he evidently took one step too many, for his footprints were clearly seen on the edge of the cliff. The next step he took was into eternity ii is awful to think of it!"
I turned away, saddened by what I had heard, for I knew this man as one utterly indifferent to God's grace. Soon after that I had to pass the spot where the poor old man had died, and the tragedy was plainly to be seen. There were the footprints still visible, and there, too, on the cliff was the mark made by his heel as he went down. There he fell and so he died.
He knew the right road and rested in his knowledge he trusted in himself. He was warned but refused the warning, and then suddenly he was destroyed.
It may be that you know the right road to heaven. Are you sure of your ability to find it at any time? Be careful! If you should take one step too many while you are still unsaved, think of the awful eternity which must follow.