THIS that I am about to tell you happened the fourth day of January, 1922, in a small town in the district of Yeung Kong, in the province of Canton, China.
There are very many poor people here, much poorer than you can even imagine, yet they are not discontented. Boys and girls value a card that costs about one-eighth of a cent, as much as some of you do a fifty-cent knife.
Well, I was reading to some people the beautiful invitation,
“Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,” and I emptied my purse of twenty-cent pieces, more than enough to give one to every person present, and, in the very words of the text, told them that whosoever desired might take one freely.
Not a person moved, not even a boy—yes, after a while a boy of eight years, or thereabouts, drew near to get a good look at so many twenty-cent pieces. He evidently desired one all right.
I thought, “Surely they do not understand my bad Chinese,” so I asked the Chinese preacher to explain my meaning, but I fear he himself did not apprehend it.
And, right here, dear children, let me tell you that it is “By faith we understand.” I never saw a clearer illustration of this. They did not understand, simply because they did not believe. One person present explained that it was a parable!
Believe what God says, just as He says it, and you will understand a lot more, and better than you do now.
So I began to individualize. I called the eight-year old boy to come close up to me, around behind the table, and in as kind a way as I could, pressed him to take the coin. He would not.
“Kei mo gum,” (“He not dare,”) said some in the audience. No, he did not dare; he would not venture. But there was near him a man of about twenty years.
“Are you poor?” I asked.
“Yes, I am poor,” he said.
“Come,” I said, “take a twenty-cent piece.”
Without delay he came to the table, and took a coin out of the pile.
“Ring it,” I said, for they always like to try the coins here. It was good. His smile told his satisfaction.
As I gathered up the rest of the coins, I told the unbelievers, including the boy, that they had LOST THEIR OPPORTUNITY!
Dear children, how many have you lost? Which will be your last?
ML 05/14/1922