Many years ago an Indian boy of the Ojibwa tribe was given a New Testament by a missionary. He learned to read it, and became so interested that he read it through several times. Soon he learned to know and love the Saviour.
The chief of the tribe was also a Christian who spent many happy hours with the Indian boy. Together they sought to tell other members of the tribe the gospel of God’s great love in sending Jesus to die for them.
One day the boy became sick and sent for the chief, who visited him each day for several days. He found the boy growing weaker, and at last was told that he would die within a few days. But the boy was not afraid to die. One day he said to his chief, “I will soon be with Jesus, but I want you to be with me until I die.” Taking out from under his blanket his New Testament which he had loved to read, he gave it to the chief and said, “Here, I want you to take this, and when they bury me, please put it under my head.”
Not long after, the young Christian Indian went to be with the Lord, leaving the cabin in the wilderness for a mansion in the glory.
We have the Bible in our homes today, but how many of us really love and cherish it like this Indian boy. What a privilege it is to possess such a Book — to have in our hands a divine revelation — every word of which is given by inspiration of God.
If you found any other book written three or four thousand years ago, you would perhaps think it a curious relic, something to be put in the museum. It would be a musty document, out of date, and practically useless to us.
Although the Bible is two thousand years old, and more, we do not think of it as useless and out of date. It is a living Book; it is a Book for every age, every class, every person. It is, as the Apostle Paul tells us, “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:1212For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
ML 12/02/1956