A poor woman lay very ill in a cottage in one of the mountain districts of France.
Her little house was isolated and lonely, but the heart of the invalid was still more so, for she lived without God and without hope in this world. She had never heard of the forgiveness of sins which is to be had through the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of God, the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, were things quite unknown to her.
When she was thus compelled to lie in bed, weak and suffering, she found time to think. Her heart was filled with darkness; whether she thought of the past, the present, or the future, not a ray of light illumined her soul.
A Christian, having heard how ill she was, went to visit her. She read the Bible to her, but the poor woman did not seem to take the slightest interest in what she read. The Christian repeated her visits again and again for a long time, but without getting any response. Sometimes, indeed, it appeared as if she did not hear at all. One afternoon, however, as the visitor read in the first chapter of Paul's first epistle to Timothy, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," the sick woman cried out suddenly, "Stop! Stop! That's just what I want! Christ Jesus came to save sinners! I am a sinner. That's just what I want!" Peacefully she lay down again, repeating, "Christ Jesus came to save sinners; that's just what I want."