I was traveling on the train the other day, and was talking with a friend who had traveled many parts of the globe. He had lived for years in a foreign land. We got talking about lions and tigers, and other wild animals, and he told me some very interesting things about elephants.
When an elephant is wanting to cross a bridge, he is most careful to find out whether that on which he treads is safe footing. In crossing a bridge which has only been built for men, the elephant will first test its strength before trusting himself to it. This he does by placing his trunk and one of his feet upon the bridge first. If he finds it strong enough, he then trusts himself to it, and passes over to the other side. Now if you or I saw a huge elephant cross the bridge safely, I think we would have no hesitation in trusting ourselves to it. We would say, if that bridge has carried the great elephant safely across, it will surely be strong enough for us.
This is how it was with one who was long anxious to be saved, anxious to pass from death unto life, out of the regions of sin and death where Satan rules, into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. But he was afraid that the bridge would not carry him safely over; in other words, he was afraid to trust himself at once to the Lord Jesus.
One day he was reading in 1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15): “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” He thought, If Christ had already saved Saul of Tarsus, the “chief of sinners,” and taken him safely to heaven, then surely He can take me, for if the greatest of all sinners has been saved by Him, I may trust Him for salvation also though I am a great sinner too. And he did trust himself to that wonderful “Bridge of Salvation,” and was immediately landed in the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
Do not be afraid to trust yourself to Christ. Great sinners have already trusted Him and passed over. You too may be a great sinner, but never mind, plant your foot firmly on the Word of God and the work of Christ this day; then you will prove His promise true.
ML 05/16/1965