Tom was a bright cheery boy, a favorite with all who knew him. He was fond of music, and used to play the harmonium at the mission hall for the Gospel services on Sunday evenings. But with all his ability, Tom was not happy. It might have been said of him, as of the young man in the Gospel,
“One thing thou lackest,” Mark 10:21.
Tom was not saved. He had never come to the Saviour, to have his sins forgiven, and so he was restless and dissatisfied. But God had His eye upon him and loved him, and in His own way was going to lead Tom to Himself.
Tom’s father was a Christian, and often prayed for him, and spoke to him about his soul. As day after day Torn heard the Word of God read in his home or at the meetings, he became more restless, till he felt he could not stand it any longer. He decided to leave home, and go away where no one would speak to him about his soul, or ask him if he were saved.
How many are like Tom! Perhaps you who read this have tried to put away all thought of God, of your soul, of eternity. But you cannot get away from God. His eye follows you everywhere, and he knows all about you.
So Tom found. Across the ocean, far away from home, he thought he would be free and happy. He found work, and tried to forget God, seldom reading his Bible. But illness came, and he was glad to stay for a little while in a Christian home where daily he heard the Bible read, making him think of the loving Saviour he was rejecting, and he began to long for peace with God.
Then one evening he went to a meeting where the tenth chapter of Matthew was read and explained. One verse struck Tom especially, “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Matt. 10:30. God knows all the details of our lives. He is interested in the smallest things that concern us, and He cares for us. This was a new thought to Torn, and he could not forget it. God was speaking to him.
He went home with a Christian friend, and as they sat together, Tom said,
“Is not that a remarkable verse, ‘The very hairs of your head are all numbered?’”
His friend said that it was, and went on to speak of the love of Christ. They sat and talked until it was long past midnight, and Tom could not pull himself away. He felt the Lord was seeking him, and the great question had to be decided now, which would we have, Christ or the world? At last he said;
“It is coming to the bit.” Then they both got on their knees, asking the Lord’s help. What happened then is best told in Tom’s own words,
“In less than two minutes after being on my knees, I had accepted the gracious offer of life through a crucified Saviour. I cannot say how long we were on our knees (I care not), but when we rose, I was resting on the finished work of Christ.”
The next morning at breakfast he told his friends, “I have found the Saviour,” and his friends added, “And the Saviour has found you.” No wonder he wrote home,
“I went to work a happier fellow than ever I was before. I was proud to confess Christ as my Saviour, and enjoy reading His Word.”
What a change had come over Tom! He had found the secret of true happiness.
Dear unsaved reader, what the Lord did for Tom, He can do for you.
“The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” He loves you, He died for you. Won’t you trust Him now?
“Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:18.
ML 11/24/1940