A LITTLE BOY, eight years old, was going home one night from the gospel preaching where he had heard his father telling out the old, old story of God’s love to sinners.
“Daddy,” said the boy with warmth of feeling, “I understood every word of what you said tonight.”
“Is that so, Reggie?” returned his father. “Well, if you understand all about the gospel so well, when are you going to trust the Lord Jesus for yourself?”
His father was hardly prepared for the answer he got to his question, for Reggie, though familiar with Bible stories and especially with the sweet story of the death of Jesus, had never shown any sign that he had taken Him as his Saviour, or indeed that he had felt any need of Him. Sometimes if he heard of somebody’s death, he would look up and ask somewhat nervously, “Was he a Christian, Mother?” He would seem relieved if the answer was “Yes.” So Reggie’s parents knew that he sometimes had serious moments thinking about death, and what is far more terrible, what comes after death. We read in Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
“I have trusted Him already, Daddy,” said Reggie.
“Have you? When and how did that come about?” asked his father.
“The first Thursday after I went back to school. I thought it all over, and in bed that night I trusted Jesus,” replied Reggie.
What glad news for his father! He seemed satisfied that Reggie’s words were the result of real trust in the Lord Jesus, so he said: “Would you like to write the date on which you trusted the Saviour in your Bible?”
By this time they had reached home. Reggie was all eagerness to get his Bible and a calendar to make sure of the date. At this moment in came Reggie’s sister, Marion, who was a year older than he. “What are you writing in Reggie’s Bible, Daddy?” she asked.
“The day on which Reggie trusted the Lord Jesus as his own Saviour,” he replied.
Up until that moment Marion had been a merry young girl, but those few words seemed to have a staggering effect on her. A pause followed. Then her father said: “Marion, I am afraid you have let Reggie trust the Lord before you have. Is that so?”
“Yes,” answered Marion with a sob.
“Oh, Marion, do trust Jesus tight,” urged Reggie. “Do it all alone when you are in bed, as I did.” It was deeply interesting to see his earnestness as he pleaded for the first time with his sister. Nor did he plead in vain.
Marion ate her supper in silence, looking the picture of misery. Reggie finished first and went joyfully to bed. Then his sister finished her meal and came up to her father to say good night. He kissed her saying, “Now run off to bed. That’s the best place for little, girls at this hour.”
Marion stood rooted to the spot, the look of misery deepening on her face. Then Daddy put his arm around his daughter and gently said, “Does my little girl want to trust Jesus tonight?”
“Yes,” she sobbed out and the burst of tears came. “I have been miserable for a long time.”
Then both children by their beds knelt before God, and with many tears they spoke to Him. What they said we do not know, but it was sweet to read the letters they wrote to Grandmother the next day.
Marion wrote: “I asked Jesus to wash away my sins, and He has done it, and made me ever so happy.” What a sweet confession!
Reggie wound up his letter by sang, “He has saved me.”
Memory Verse: “FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH; BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” Rom. 6:23.
ML-02/24/1963