CAN you picture a soldiers’ encampment in South India? It was at Secunderabad, and a group of soldiers were seeing off one of their number who was going to take a special course at an Engineering College in North India.
The train was gradually getting up steam when his comrades called out “Goodbye, Sandy, four-nine-four.” He replied in a similar fashion. “Goodbye, six further on.”
If we had been passing we would have wondered what these numbers meant, as it was evident that those who used them realized their meaning. “Four-nine-four” stood for the number of a hymn in Sankey’s Songs and Solos, Old Edition, the first line of which is: —
“God be with you till we meet again,”
“Six further on” stood for No. 500 in the same book; the first line of this hymn being: —
“Blessed assurance—Jesus is mine.”
No parting message could have been more fitting to a soldier leaving for a new sphere of life and interests. And it is one I would give to many of my readers at this time. Could you reply in the same manner: “Six further on” meaning that you know the blessedness of having Jesus as your own Lord and Saviour? Can you say these words with truth?
“BLESSED ASSURANCE — JESUS IS MINE.”