IN the waiting-room of a wayside station were some eight or nine boys. They were waiting for the train which would bring the evening papers. Ragged and rough the most of them seemed as they sat and talked and laughed one with another.
Suddenly their interest was aroused by the remark of a stranger to them. He had been standing by the fire chatting to a friend, but turning to the boys had said to them, “I’ll give a penny to the boy who gives me the best answer to a question. The question is, ‘What is the way to heaven?’”
At first a good deal of giggling took place, and they nudged one another shyly, so, encouraging them, the stranger said, “Now try, see who can get the penny. My friend here shall say which is the best answer.”
A bright-faced lad was the first to respond, and he said:
“Wash away your sins!”
Some more encouraging words were spoken, and then others gave expression to their thoughts of the way to everlasting happiness.
No. 2 Said: “Go to Sunday school every Sunday!”
No. 3: “Be good!”
No. 4: “Prayer!”
No. 5: “Serve God!”
No. 6: “Be honest!”
These were the only replies which could be obtained, and most of them showed how little the truths of the gospel were known to them.
To “Go to Sunday school every Sunday” would not open heaven to anybody. We may hear of the way to heaven in our Sunday school classes, but many who go to Sunday school every Sunday will never reach heaven.
To “Be good!” or to “Be honest!” in the future will not put away our past sins or fit us for the glory of God. It is, of course, right to be good in our homes and schools, but in the sight of God “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” None of us is naturally good, with a goodness which will make him acceptable in His sight.
“Prayer” is most important in its place, but saying prayers will not put away my guilt. There are some who say over and over again the same things. The Lord warns us of these vain repetitions. There is no merit in these—they cannot atone for sin.
We cannot rightly “serve God” until we are at peace with Him. It is those who are saved by His grace who can serve Him, and those only.
The boy who said, “Wash away your sins!” gave the best answer, and received the penny. We must wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, or we can never be fitted for the presence of God. I do not know whether the boy knew by what means his sins could be washed away, for the train came rushing in before much more could be said.
The speaker, however, gave the boys one word as the best answer to the question he had asked, and he spelt it on the fingers of one hand.
Can you guess what that word was? It was “Jesus.” He Himself says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me,” John 14:6.
You know the way probably. Are you treading it? Have you come to Christ? Are you serving Him?
ML-02/10/1935