"Won't you accept Christ?" I said to a young man at the close of a gospel meeting.
"I can't," he replied. "There is a friend waiting for me outside."
"And there is a Friend waiting for you here inside. He has waited for you a good many years."
He hung his head.
"You would not like to disappoint the friend outside," I continued, "but you do not mind disappointing the Friend who is waiting inside, and yet He continues to wait. Do you know His name?"
"It is Jesus," he replied.
"And will you still keep Him waiting?"
Thank God, that night he turned to the Friend who waits to receive and bless poor sinners.
This same Friend of sinners is waiting, waiting, waiting still waiting for you who are still away from Him. Outside, there is the world which promises lasting friendship, but you know its promises are false. Pleasure, sin, Satan, all wait outside to please you for a while, but at the last they will leave you comfortless and lonely in the night of your despair.
Will you listen to the voices of the false friends outside? They will keep you outside of heaven, outside of the blessing of God forever. Or, will you listen to the voice of the Friend who "loveth at all times," the Friend who "sticketh closer than a brother," the One who laid down His life that He might be your Savior?