WE knew Tina when she was quite a little girl, living near to us, but she soon left our town, and for some years we heard nothing of her. One day, however, she surprised us by calling, and told us the good news that she was now a Christian.
“Of course," she said, "I always believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and that He came into the world to die for sinners. I never disbelieved it for a moment, but it is one thing to believe it as a matter of history, and quite another for the fact of His coming and living and dying down here to grip your soul and deeply affect you.”
“I realized at last," Tina continued, "that each one of us must have to do with the Lord Jesus personally; that it means little, possibly nothing, to say to God, ' We are all miserable sinners,' but that God will accept me, if I say, meaning what I say, ' I am a sinner; Lord, save me.'”
“Yes; that is exactly what the gospels seek to teach us," I replied. " The publican in Luke 18 smote his breast and did not even look up, he was so ashamed of himself, and he said, ' God be merciful to me a sinner,' and he went down to his house justified. He genuinely humbled himself, and God exalted him; and He will do so for every one of us in the same way. I quite agree with you that it is a personal matter between your own soul and the Lord; you have sinned and I have sinned, and both of us, in order to be pardoned, must get into the presence of the Lord for salvation.”
“Yes; I saw that, "she continued." It must be a definite transaction between the Lord Jesus and my own soul. I must be conscious that He has spoken to me, and know that He has forgiven me, and I know it.”
“Those who came to the Lord when He was on earth had one thing in common; there were the sick, the blind, the lame and the leper, and sin-laden people, but they were deeply conscious, one and all, of their desperate need, need which could only be met by divine power from a divine hand. They knew no man could meet their need, and so do we, do we not, Tina?”
“Yes, indeed, "Tina agreed, and continued," Then when I knew my sins were gone I felt I mustn't just leave it at that and be thankful, but must give myself wholly to the Lord. I knew it must again be a definite act, not just thinking and hoping and praying that it might be and one day I gave myself to the Lord, and now I am His forever.”
“I am glad, "I replied." To go through this world knowing that the Lord has loved you, and will love you eternally and that you belong to Him is a wonderful thing. It says of those in the Macedonian churches that they ' first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us.' (2 Cor. 8:55And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. (2 Corinthians 8:5).) That was certainly a definite act, and no one can serve the Lord acceptably until definitely committed to Him.”
Tina went back home again to tell her parents and friends, who had no love for the Lord in their hearts, how precious He had become to her.
Is He precious to you, I wonder? If not, there is something wrong, which He will put right if you are concerned about it and ask Him.
In Psa. 86, which is said to be "a prayer of David," he says, "Unite my heart to fear thy name. I Will praise thee, O Lord my God, with ALL my heart; and I will glorify thy name for evermore.”
So we, the reader and the writer, can both turn to the Lord in this way; first that our heart may be united, not half for self and self-interest, and half for the Lord; but that our love may be entirely for Him, so that we can praise with every bit of it, and can say with David, "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with ALL my heart.”