THE world is not worth living for, Jane. I am tired of life and would gladly put an end to it, were it not that it will only be worse in the future. I feel so lonely no one cares for me. I have no friends on earth. I once had, but they are all gone, and I have been tempted many a time to throw myself over the rocks and end it all. Indeed, I have gone down more than once to the Gull cliff with that intention, but each time an unseen hand seemed to keep me back, and an old verse my mother taught me long ago, flashed across my mind:—
‘Days, mouths and years will have an end; Eternity has none.
‘Twill always have as long to spend as when it first begun.’
If it were not that I fear the future, I would do it, but I know that I am not a Christian, and that I would not go to heaven.
The words were spoken by a young shop-girl to her companion, as they walked along the busy street, after the day’s work was done. They were both orphans; both friendless in the world, and both working hard all day for very small wages, barely enough to keep them in lodgings. Yet, although so much alike in circumstances, there was a vast difference between the two girls. One had Christ, and knew herself safe in His keeping for time and eternity. She told Him all her sorrows, and He carried her and her burdens, too. The other girl had known better times. She had been well brought up, but on the death of her parents, was cast into the world, to earn her own living. She thought hers was a hard lot, and in the words quoted above, she wished her life was ended. Putting her arm into her companion’s, Jane replied, “I am sorry for you, Mary, and would help you if I could. You know that my circumstances are much the same as your own, and I once had the same hard thoughts of life as yourself. But, ever since the day of my conversion to God, all has been changed. I look upon my lot now as the very best God could choose for me. I am sure He so loves me, that He would never do less for me, than the very best, and I praise Him for the privilege of living here on earth, to learn to trust Him for earthly things, as well as for salvation, and to prove His love and goodness in providing for me. If you had Jesus, Mary, you would be happy, I know, but without Him, you must be miserable here and without hope, as to the hereafter.”
The two young women walked on for several minutes in silence, neither caring to say more. But Mary’s heart was too full to let that continue. So pulling her companion into an open entry, she burst into tears, and grasping Jane by the hands, said, “O Jane, I wish I had the peace that you have. I have watched you in the warehouse for many a day, and wondered what made us to differ. I know you are a good girl, and I have been sinful and foolish, but do you think Jesus would help me, and make me as you are?”
The distress of her companion had caused Jane’s tears to flow also, but wiping her face, she said, in earnest, tender tones, “Mary, I am not good. I am a sinner as you are, and deserve to be sent to hell. But God loves sinners, and Jesus came to save them. I came to Jesus as I was, and He saved me. I know He will save you, too, if you come to Him; for He says, ‘Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out,’ John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37), and, ‘Whosover believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,’ John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). Then for the future, He says, ‘Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness,’ Isa. 40:1111He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11).
O, Mary! I do not know what I would have done without Christ all these years, but I can say, to the praise of His grace, since the day that I came to Him, trusted Him, and became His own, He has cared for me, with more than a mother’s love, and a father’s care.
Sometimes when I lie down wearied at night, I cannot help singing, in the gladness of my heart—
‘I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad,
I found in Him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.’”
The girls now resumed their walk, and had gone far beyond the street corner, where they should have parted. They had reached the outskirts of the city; the full moon shone out in all its brightness.
There was no one near, none but God, and He was watching from His holy heavens the struggles of that burdened heart sighing for deliverance, and listening to His child witnessing for Christ, and testifying to the triumph of His grace. For you must know, loved reader, that such things are of great account in heaven. More than the rise and fall of empires, is the decision of a soul for Christ or the world, for sin or salvation, for heaven or hell, to God.
“Let us kneel together,” said the awakened girl, to her Christian companion, “I cannot pray, but you might pray for me, Jane.”
“I will Mary, with all my heart, but, mind, you must not depend on my prayer, but trust Jesus for yourself,” said the Christian girl. And she did pray, pouring out her soul in earnest supplication for her companion, and the burden of her prayer was, that Mary might “there and then be born again.” As she finished, Mary said in broken accents, “Lord Jesus, I do trust Thee. I am a sinner, but it was for sinners Thou didst die, and now I believe in Thee as my own personal Saviour. Take me now, just as I am.” That moment was the moment of her deliverance, her heavenly birth, her passage from death to life. Glory be to God. No sinner ever thus trusted Christ, without these being wrought for them, by God the Spirit. They are as sure as the Word of the eternal God can make them. Do you doubt it? Taste and see. Ten thousand witnesses there are to prove it.
The two girls arose. Mary kissed her companion, and hugged her to her bosom. She was now her sister in Christ, and the winner of her soul as well. A new love had sprung up within her heart, and that newly formed link, was the beginning of a companionship in Christ for many days. The orphan girls were much in each other’s company. They shared the same humble room, and spent many a happy night in the service of the Lord, seeking out the lost ones, and pointing them to that Saviour, known and loved by them, as “The Orphan’s Friend.”
Reader, are you the Lord’s? Have you been converted? Can you say with Mary, “Lord Jesus, I do trust Thee?”
ML 05/09/1909