In a little village in India was a den of robbers, thieves and thugs. People were afraid to pass that way. At length the government decided to raze the village and scatter the inhabitants.
A group of Christians hearing of the government’s intention pleaded for a chance to save the village from destruction. They went to the village, and boldly preached the gospel on the streets and in the rice fields.
Much prayer went up for those poor villagers, and the Spirit of God worked mightily in hearts long hardened in sin. The saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ found its way into consciences hitherto unmoved by crime. Conviction and confession followed, and a change began to take place in many lives.
First, the robber chief himself was converted, and then one by one, almost all confessed Christ and were baptized.
The stealing stopped. Not a complaint was made to the government against these villagers. But the police thought this was too good to last.
A short time later one of the former robbers moved to the next village. The police sent a man to spy on him. Late one evening the spy saw the man following a trail with a package under his arm. It was wrapped in newspaper.
“Ah, he has been at it again!” thought the spy. He followed the man to his home and watched him through the window.
The man closed the door, gathered his family around him, and unwrapped the package. The spy expected to see some stolen goods tumble out. Instead it was a Bible! He had borrowed it from a Christian neighbor. Then he began to read aloud from it to his family. The man listening outside heard these words among others read: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.
“Let him that stole steal no more.” Ephesians 4:28.
ML-11/25/1979