A SERVANT of God in the East Indies, not so very long ago, was sitting one evening on a bamboo chair in front of the mission-house. Before him stood a little table on which lay some Bibles, New Testaments, and tracts in the language of the country. In the heat of the tropical sun the missionary had held to his post all through the long day, that he might make known to every passer-by the way of salvation, and offer them the Word of God. For the most part they went on their way without lending an ear to his message. Some stood still for a moment, but only to laugh at his words, and to mock at them as they continued their walk. But there were some who departed with the Word of God in their hands, and a serious look on their faces. Deeply moved, and in prayer for these poor people, the missionary lifted up his eyes to watch the sunset. He was just preparing to leave his post, when a distinguished young native approached. It was quite plain from his magnificent turban and his yellow silk garment that he belonged to the rich and distinguished caste of the Brahmins. As he drew nearer, he bowed to the missionary and seated himself on a mat.
“I have come,” he began, “to tell you that idolatry is a sin. I know from this book that God is One, and that Christianity is the truth. I am a disciple of Jesus, and in order to become so publicly, I ask you to baptize me.”
The missionary, having ascertained from the young Brahmin that his mother was living, and that he was rich in friends besides being wealthy and of good position, pressed on him to consider what he was about to do. He reminded the young convert that in one hour he might lose everything that he was possessed of—family, friends, and property. But the Brahmin’s answer was serious: “I understand you, but I have applied the test. I have weighed in the balance, on the one side the Lord Jesus Christ, His love, and His blood once shed for me; and on the other side I weighed my rank, my friends, and my numerous possessions. But the latter were light indeed as compared with the former. They were lighter than vanity itself. I have proved them to be so.”
Not long after his baptism, the rich young man, who had hitherto lived like a prince, found himself poor and lonely, forsaken by his mother and his family, deprived of caste, and robbed of his possessions. Even the lowest of his servants, who had hitherto almost worshipped him, now treated him with contempt, and would have let him die without offering a helping hand, so great is the power of darkness over the human heart. But what of our Brahmin friend? He had become a true, bright Christian. Like the Thessalonians of old, he had left his idols to serve the living and the true God. In order to earn a living for himself, the once wealthy youth entered a house of business as bookkeeper, at a very modest salary.