One morning, about two weeks after the beggar passed through the village, the old shoemaker rose early, and told his son that the little shop would be left in his care, as he was going to Nantes.
“To Nantes, Father?” said his son, “You cannot think of it. It is much too long a journey for you, for it is. more than sixty miles.”
“I know, but I have made up my mind to go to Nantes.”
All efforts to dissuade the old shoemaker from his purpose were unavailing, so he started on the long walk to Nantes, where he arrived at length. He sought out the pastor who had a depot at which Bibles were sold.
“What do you wish?” asked the pastor, as he entered the depot.
“Sir,” he replied, “I have been told that one could obtain from you a book that tells about God.”
“Is it a Bible you wish?”
“Oh! yes, sir, that’s it! I should like to have one.”
“At what price?”
“Price, sir,” said the old man. “Certainly, we do not give away Bibles.”
“Well, I am unable to buy one, sir. A begger told me that you gave him one, and I am as poor as he is.”
“Where do you come from, my friend?”
He told the name of the village in which he lived. The pastor, knowing it was at a great distance, inquired,
“How did you come?”
“On foot again.”
“How are you going back?”
“On foot again.”
“What! Have you, old as you are, undertaken a walk of more than 120 miles to get a Bible?”
“Yes, sir; and I shall think myself amply rewarded if I get one.”
“If that be so, although I should never give away another Bible, you shall certainly have one. What size would you like to have? Probably one with fairly large type? You read pretty well, I suppose?”
“Ah! no; I do not know a letter.” “But what are you to do with a Bible if you cannot read?”
“Oh! sir, my daughter can read, and there are three people in our village who can read. I do beg you to give me the Book.”
The pastor gave him a Bible, and after thanking him heartily, he carried it homeward with joy. On reaching his native village, he invited the people to come to his house in the evening, when those who could read did so by turns, while the others listened.
The old sabot-maker followed all that was read with the greatest attention, and committed many parts of the Scriptures to memory. The words, however, did not rest in his mind only, but touched the inmost chords of his heart.
Some six months after his journey to Nantes, he was found there again. The pastor, astonished at seeing him, exclaimed: “My old friend! Whatever brings you so far again?”
The old man replied, “Oh! sir, I’ve been all wrong — all wrong, sir.”
“But who told you that you were wrong?”
“The Book, sir; the Bible says it.”
“Oh, really, and what does it say?”
“The Book, sir; it says I’m a poor sinner, and that I need the Saviour. I have heard that you people believe just like the Bible teaches, and if you please I would like to be one of you.”
“Before we admit any one, my friend, we examine him.”
“Examine, sir! I am an old man, over 70, and I know not the number of my days. There is no time to lose, sir.”
A few of the leading Christians assembled immediately, and proceeded to ask the old man a number of questions.
“What do you know of the Lord Jesus Christ?”
He answered: “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
“What have you to say about His death?”
“The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.”
“What are the privileges of those who believe in Christ?”
“There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”
“What would you say was the duty of the believer in Christ?”
“Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
“My friend,” said one, “If these words express your heart, you have been taught by God Himself, and we do not hesitate to admit you among us, and we welcome you as a brother.”
The old man showed, by the confession of his lips and the change in his life, the wonderful results that follow on hearing the Word of God, if received in simple faith.
ML 09/24/1967