“It’s a pity about the young fellow in the next room. We have done all we can for him, but he will be dead before morning.”
“But doctor, you told him he was doing fine. He is expecting to get better.”
“Well, he has put up such a good fight for life that it would be a pity to depress him. He will be unconscious before long and never know that he is dying.”
“Won’t you tell him, doctor? His friends are all far away, and there has been no time for anyone to come down. He may have something to settle, some last message to send. Please tell him.”
“No! I shall not tell him; it is easier for him not to know. You can tell him if you want to.”
After the doctor had left the hospital, the nurse thought, “It is a pity to upset him.” But, as she hesitated, she thought again that he might have something to settle, some message to send. She again entered the patient’s room and sat down beside his bed.
The young man turned his face toward her and said, “It is kind of you, nurse, to pay me another visit. You heard the doctor say that I am doing well. Does he think it will be long before I can be moved? Will you write to my mother and make the best of it to her?”
The nurse was silent for a moment, and then she said, “I am afraid the doctor has let you think what is not true. You are more seriously injured than we at first thought.”
“You don’t mean that I am going to die!” A silent tear rolling down the nurse’s cheek was the only answer.
The young man had faced death in battle before, but now there was no excitement to detract his thoughts. Eternal realities came before him - the awful fact of having to face God.
“How long, nurse?” he asked.
She told him the plain truth.
“I can’t die! I can’t die!” he cried. “I am not ready to die! What must I do to be saved?”
Truly, as the nurse had said, he had something to settle.
“How can I be saved?” was the only question now.
The nurse had thought only of earthly details, and in answer to this burning question she could only reply, “I don’t know how - I’m not saved myself.”
Then, in a pleading voice the patient asked, “Won’t you pray for me, nurse? Please pray!”
But her sad confession was, “I can’t. I don’t know how.”
The nurse was now as upset as the dying man. Suddenly a bright thought entered her mind and she said, “If it will be any comfort to you, I’ll read the Bible.”
He caught the suggestion like a drowning man grasping a lifeline and said, “Do - please do -nurse!”
She hardly knew where to begin, but the Bible fell open at John’s gospel, chapter three. She read about a man who came to Jesus by night, of the great love of God in giving His only begotten Son ( Jesus) to die and then how a woman came to Jesus and received from Him living water.
At the end of the chapter she paused and looked at the patient. The gray pallor she knew so well was stealing over his sad face, but his eyes pleaded for her to read on. She continued until she read chapter five, verse 24: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
As she finished this verse the dying man’s face changed. The haggard, hopeless look disappeared, and he said, “Stop there, nurse - light is coming in. I see! I see! Leave me alone, nurse, but come back soon. Thank you.”
For half an hour he was left alone with God. Returning to his bedside, the nurse found his face shining with a new and heavenly joy, and he exclaimed: “I have heard His word. I believe the Lord Jesus bore my sins when He died on the cross. He has received me. It is not death for me, nurse; it is everlasting life. He has given it to me. I have passed from death to life.” After a moment’s rest he continued, “Nurse, promise me you will meet me in heaven. You cannot say you have not heard the way.”
“I promise you not to rest until I know,” she answered. “But I cannot grasp it as quickly as you have; it’s not clear to me.”
“He knew I had not much time left,” said the dying man, “so He let the light in quickly. He will make it clear to you. Thank God it is settled - and you have been the means. Tell my mother, Christ saved me at the very last.”
Soon afterwards he whispered, “Peace, peace,” and lapsed into unconsciousness - only to awaken with Christ his Saviour. It was four years later, as a preacher quoted John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24), the nurse also received peace with God. As the light broke into her soul she, too, exclaimed, “I see, I see!”
Have you something to settle? You may not have an opportunity to be saved in your last hours. Be wise - come to Jesus now. He will receive you, and He’ll give you His everlasting life and everlasting peace.