I have been in the army for the last ten years, and I may say that during that time my adventures have been varied. I have been all over, in large and small cities and in villages, and have had sufficient opportunity to get thoroughly acquainted with people.
I have had plenty, and have suffered want; I have traveled by foot and by railroad; I visited churches and theaters; I was gay in the dance hall, and lay sick in hospitals. My superiors were satisfied with me and my comrades respected me. I was considered a thoughtful, intelligent man, yet I knew nothing about Christianity.
I went to church only when I was ordered to go, but I never heard anything about Christ there, whether this was because my thoughts were generally allowed to wander, or whether the preachers were partly to blame, I do not know, but at any rate, up to the time of my conversion I had known nothing of true Christianity.
I possessed no Bible, could not pray, indeed, outside of a church building I had never heard prayer nor spiritual songs, and when there, I neither joined in praying nor singing. As far as I knew, none of my comrades possessed a Bible, and to tell the truth, I hardly knew what a Bible was.
Considering my ignorance of religious matters, it is not to be wondered that I was proud of the fact that I was an upright man, and it would never have entered my mind to consider myself a wicked person. I had not the least idea that one living without God is in reality an ungodly person, even though well behaved in the eyes of men.
My dear friends! is it not awful to be brought up, and live in a Christian land, and know nothing about God, or His Son, Jesus Christ? Thus I lived for years, but though I did not think about God, He had thoughts of love and grace towards me. He knew how to find me, and in a most simple, but no less wonderful way.
One day we entered a village where we were to remain for eight days. I was directed to a farm house for my quarters, where I was received in a friendly manner, and was shown my room. I was asked whether I preferred meals alone, or with the family.
I said I preferred the latter, and being just at noon time, the man of the house led me to the large living room, where the family, including hired men and women, were seated at the table.
The meal was brought in, and now a great surprise was awaiting me—all rose from their seats, and the father spoke with an earnest voice, "The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. O God, our Father, bless this food, for Jesus' sake. Amen.”
Everyone, even the small children listened reverently, with folded hands. I had stood with the rest for politeness sake, but I must confess, this made such an impression on me that my knees trembled. After the meal, all stood up again, folded their hands as before, and the man of the house prayed.
"O, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever," then each went to his work and the children went to school.
I seated myself in a corner to reflect, when the small boy of four years old came to me, and said to me in a childish, familiar way, "Tell me something about the Lord Jesus!”
I became greatly embarrassed. Tell about the Lord Jesus? About Him whose name I scarcely knew? How could I begin? But I must relate something, as the little one gave me no rest, so I began to speak of sheep and goats, of horses, oxen and donkeys. But the little man was not satisfied with that; he insisted that I relate something about the Lord Jesus, and he pressed me so, that I felt forced to answer, "Well, my boy, I know nothing to tell you about that!”
"What! you know nothing about the Savior?" he replied, greatly astonished, "and you so big? Then you will not go to heaven.”
Not go to heaven? That was a thought I had not been concerned about before, and it made me extremely uncomfortable. Besides, it was painful to me to get my sentence from the mouth of a child.
I left the room and sought my companions in the village, hoping to change the current of my thoughts, but I could not rid myself of a feeling of uneasiness. I did not return to my quarters for supper, as I did not wish to place myself in a position for unwelcome questions again.
At about 9 o'clock in the evening I went to the house of my host. As I had expected, the evening meal was over, but they had saved my supper for me. I began to eat, but there appeared my little friend, who had carefully watched my every movement, and looking earnestly at me, said, "First pray, then eat!”
That was a rebuke for me. I could not pray. The little one must have entered into my position, for he took his stand beside me, folded his hands, and said, "Lord Jesus, bless what Thou hast provided for us. Amen. This is how you must pray.”
He then was called away to be put to bed, but I was so affected that I could hardly swallow a morsel of food.
The little fellow had scarcely gone out when the whole household entered the room for evening prayers. A hymn was first sung, then the man of the house read a portion of the Word of God, and made a few explanatory remarks. Finally all kneeled down, including myself, and the farmer prayed. He cried to God for many things in such a sincere, confident manner, as a child would speak to its father, yet so full of reverence, that I was very much affected; all was so new and wonderful. I did not know how I felt. I was so ashamed, I hardly dared to lift my eyes, yet I was confident they were right. When all had risen, they shook hands, bidding each other "good night," and all retired for the night, except the farmer and his wife, who remained for a while in the room with their Bible. The good man handed me a Bible, too, with the remark that perhaps I would like to read from the Word of God. I opened the book and read, but without understanding, in the least, what I read. I could scarcely lay hold of a single thought, my heart was too full. For the first time in my life, I sat with a Bible on my knees. Later, when in my room, I prayed for the first time in reality. My prayer however was short, "O, God, Thou God of this house, be my God, also!”
The days which followed, passed about as the first. The good people who noticed well enough what was going on within me, spoke a great deal with me about the salvation of my soul. When I asked how it was there was such peace in their home, they answered, it was because they had peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Gradually the light shone within me. I began to see that I was a poor lost sinner, on the way to everlasting judgment. The more I realized this, the more grew my desire for a Savior, who could forgive all my sins, and make me as happy as the people who gave me lodgings. God saw my desire and heard my pleadings.
On the following Lord's Day, I went with my new acquaintances to hear the Word of God preached, and there I heard for the first time about the work of Christ on Calvary's cross, and this brought me to Him. Since that time I have known and loved Him as my Savior, know that He bore all my sins, and I long to go to be with Him in His home.
My dear young friends, have you been brought to know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, and desire to be with Him? If you have not, may you seek Him now while He may be found, for soon the day of grace will be closed and He will not be found by you then.