ALBERT was the son of Christian parents. During his early childhood he had been taught the Word of God and brought up in the fear of the Lord. In his college days he became acquainted with a student who professed himself to be an atheist and, much to the grief of his parents, Albert soon became an avowed atheist also.
After his graduation he entered medical school, and in due time he became a skilled and popular physician. But his heart was cold toward eternal things.
Albert spent twenty years ignoring God. However, he experienced many a misgiving. This was especially true when he remembered the happy Christian lives of his parents, or heard the dying words of some of his patients as they entered the world beyond in peace, confessing their faith in Christ and their certainty of being in heaven.
Late one afternoon the doctor was called to see a new patient, a man saved and bound for heaven.
"Tell me my true condition, doctor; do not hide it from me. I have no fear of death, no dread of the future—all is bright ahead. Forty years ago I came as a sinner to Jesus; He saved me and has kept me happy in His love ever since. It will be the grandest day of my life when He sends for me to dwell with Him."
The doctor was touched by his patient's statement. It was not the wanderings of insanity. It was not the daydream of a visionary. It was the calm, sober statement of a man of faith waiting on the borderline for the appointed hour that would usher him into the presence of his Lord.
The doctor examined his patient and, contrary to his usual custom, he told the whole truth: "You may live a day, or you may go within an hour."
"Praise the Lord," was the calm reply, "Open up the blinds; bring in the boys; tell the men in the factory to come in. I want to spend my last breath in telling them of Jesus."
The doctor could stand it no longer. He hurried away, and in fifteen minutes was in his office alone with God.
"There is a reality in being saved after all," he said to himself. "My mother used to tell me so. That dying man knows it, and has the power of it in him. I can't doubt it."
A terrible struggle in his soul followed. For weeks the doctor was not "at home". Another filled his appointments. And when he returned to his practice he was a different man—a man saved by God's almighty grace: calm in spirit, gentle as a child.
In the days of his absence he had met with God, met Him at the cross where as a sinner he cast him- self on His mercy, claiming forgiveness and salvation through the merits of the blood of Jesus alone.
His conversion became the talk of the town. Those who had so well known his atheistic principles stood in wonder, some in scorn. This was hard to bear, but it served to show him his place as a stranger, rejected by the world as was his Lord. Grace triumphed, and for many years the doctor carried on his profession and guided many a sick and dying sinner to the Savior.
There is a reality in being saved. Do you know it? If not, you may. Just receive the Lord Jesus as your own Savior now.