I had reached my place of business and had opened the morning's letters. A buyer from a house with whom I had had previous transactions, was ushered in.
On my desk lay a small Bible. At once it attracted his attention, and he asked, "What book is that you have there?”
I replied, "A Bible But, of course, you know it is," I added.
He told me that he was sure he had read the Bible through as many, if not more, times than anyone then living. He said he admired its language and thought that as a literary work, it must take first rank.
This led me to ask whether, having so high an opinion of its structure and wording, he believed in its contents and the One of whom it spoke. His reply startled me. It was a very emphatic "No!”
When I questioned his reasons for withholding his belief in it he declared that the contradictions in it were so numerous that they rendered it unworthy of credence.
Genesis
Deuteronomy
"Benjamin shall raven' as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.”
And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders."
I must confess that I was stumped. But I knew that these two passages, outwardly so contradictory, must have a divine purpose. Feeling also that Satan was at work here, I very earnestly lifted my heart to God for His help in giving an answer, lest the prince of demons should gain an advantage.
More quickly than I expected the answer came. Turning to him I asked, "Was not Saul of Tarsus a Benjamite?”
Then I said, "Was not this Saul of Tarsus 'a ravening wolf' when he went to Damascus 'breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord'"?
To this my caller assented. Then I pointed out how the Lord subdued this Benjamite to Himself, turning him from the service of Satan to become "the beloved of the Lord" dwelling in safety by Him. So distinctly was this an answer from God that the man himself exclaimed: "Well! you, at least, have got hold of the right end of the stick.”
Beloved, what made the difference between Saul of Tarsus, the ravening wolf, and that same man later called Paul, "the beloved of the Lord"? It was the knowledge of God in his heart through the acceptance of the Son of His love.
Let me ask you, reader: Are you still numbered among the ravening wolves, with hatred toward God in your heart and no desire to seek His grace? Or, are you one of that blest company each of whom is beloved of the Lord, dwelling in perfect security and borne forward by His strength?