NAPOLEON, the French emperor, had put in prison a young nobleman named Charney, on a charge of conspiring against the government. Until then Charney had lived among the princes of the land. He was rich, had a grand mansion, and a host of friends. To be shut up in a prison was a sad change. He had but one small room. All his furniture consisted of a chair, a table, a bed, a chest of drawers, and a small cupboard. He had no books and was not allowed to see any friends. He remained continually inside his cell except for two hours each day when he was allowed to walk about in a small yard all alone. The only person who spoke to him was the jailer.
How dull and lonesome his life was! He did not know how to pass the time. He drew pictures, he carved little ships and men, he made whistles and he wrote upon the wall. Some of the words he wrote were very sad, for he did not believe in God nor in His beloved Son Jesus. He was proud and disdainful. One day he wrote in big letters on the wall: “ALL THINGS COME BY CHANCE.”
One day, however, as he walked to and fro in his little yard, he saw a tiny plant peeping between two of the stones. Wondering how it came there he stooped down to examine it. It was something fresh and new for the poor prisoner.
Next morning he fancied it had grown a little, and he began to watch it with intense interest. He had never thought a flower could become so dear to him. Every day he was eager for his walk in the yard so that he might examine it again. And as he watched its growth, he began to wonder whether anything so lovely and perfect could come by chance. Did chance make those leaves so delicately veined? Did chance teach every branch to spring forth on the parent stem? Did chance teach it to drink in the sunlight and change into beautiful green? His mind began to hesitate and when his eye caught the sentence upon the wall, “ALL THINGS COME BY CHANCE,” he wrote beneath in very large letters, “PERHAPS.”
By-and-by the plant began to flower; its blossoms were white, pule and rose-colored with a silvery fringe. Wonderingly the prisoner watched each bud unfold, he counted each petal and he was delighted with its loveliness. “All things come by chance,” said the writing on the wall, but the flower seemed to whisper to his heart, “Nay, my beauty did not come by chance. It is God who made me so fair.”
He felt the flower was right, so he rubbed off the lying words, saying as he did so, “He who made all things is GOD.”
The flower did even more for the poor prisoner. The story of his love for it reached the ears of the empress, who was so touched by it that she persuaded the Emperor Napoleon to set him free. But when he left the prison he took the flower with him, and planted it in his greenhouse. He tended it with loving care because that little flower had taught him to believe in God.
We know it was the goodness of God who spoke in love to poor Charney’s heart to turn him from his infidel thoughts and ways to Himself, “the Creator who is blessed forever” (Rom. 1:2525Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:25)). The love of God shone into his poor darkened heart, dispelling the darkness, and gave him to see beauty in Jesus the One he had despised so long. Thus through grace his term in prison was turned to his blessing, and praise to God and His beloved Son. He makes all things work together for good to them that love Him (Rom. 8:2828And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)).
Dear young reader, Is Jesus your Saviour? Do you have everlasting life in Him?
ML-01/12/1964