Robert had dear Christian pants and knew much about the Bible, yet for some years he failed to see the real way of salvation or to enter into the joy of it. Then one cold winter evening, looking out of his window, he noticed the strange appearance of the sky; it was very red and beautiful.
He called his mother to look at it, and while admiring the beautiful sight, she said, “Now I wish my dear Saviour would come through those clouds and take me to live with Him forever.”
Bob heard what his mother had said, but the very thought of it alarmed him, for he knew very well that if the Lord came his mother would be taken and he would be left behind. From that moment he could not rest from day to day lest Jesus should come and find him not ready.
A few months later Bob went to visit his brother in the country. That Sunday evening two Christian men came to the village to preach the gospel in the open air. They took their stand outside the house where Robert was staying. He looked at them through the window, but he would not go outside to hear what they said.
The next Sunday he had been out for a walk with his brother, and when they got back, they found the two preachers at the same spot again. Oh how Robert would like to have asked one of them the question, “What must I do to be saved?” But God was going to answer this question without his having to ask it.
Going up to his room, he stood in front of his window, opened wide, and could hear every word that was spoken in the loud clear voice of the preacher.
Just then a hymn was given out and sung by those present. The first four lines had a message for Robert, and contained just what he needed:
Nothing either great or small—
Nothing, sinner, no!
Jesus did it, did it all,
Long, long ago.
Those words went home to his heart, and for the first time he saw the value of the finished work of Christ—how that work was perfectly done, and God was perfectly satisfied with the way it had been done.
The moment Bob saw this, and that all his sins had been put away once and forever, his joy was great indeed. The next Sunday he did not listen to the preachers at the open window, but he went out and stood with them.
He returned home soon after, and he will never forget the joy of his dear mother as she saw him kneel in prayer to God. Her loving arms were soon around him, wanting to know what had made so great a change in him.
And then followed the praise and thanksgiving that the Lord had answered all her prayers for his blessing, and made him now a child of God.
ML-02/11/1979