Tom had a disability that affected his legs. He used to go to school on crutches, but his problem with his legs got worse, so he could no longer go to school. Tom was often alone. He had a friend named Jack who used to come visit him, but Jack had moved away. Now he spent his days in an upstairs bedroom with no company except Grandmother, who was tired when she came home after working all day. They didn’t have much money, but she loved him very much.
You might think Tom would be very unhappy in his circumstances. But his friend Jack had given him a Bible before he moved away, and Tom had found good news in it which had made him very happy. This good news was too good to keep to himself. So, he had thought of a way of sharing it.
“Granny,” said Tom one day, “I want some paper.” The very next evening Granny brought Tom some paper and a pencil.
Tom carefully folded a sheet of paper into four squares. In each square he wrote one of his favorite verses from the Bible in his best writing. In one square he wrote: “I know whom I have believed” (the Lord Jesus), 2 Timothy 1:1212For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12). In another square he wrote: “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us,” Romans 8:3737Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37). When each square was carefully torn off and folded, he wrote on the outside: To the passerby. Please read. Then he watched out the window, and as someone came by, he dropped one of his messages.
Then one day, he heard someone coming up the stairs. A young man walked into the room with a square of paper in his hand. He had read one of Tom’s messages. It made him go looking for a Bible to find out the meaning of the wonderful words written on the square of paper. He had continued reading, on and on in the Bible, until he found that the Savior of sinners was the answer to his soul’s need. But he wanted to find who was responsible for this way of spreading the message.
“Why do you do this?” he
asked Tom.
Tom’s answer is worth remembering. “Because I know Jesus,” he said, “and knowing is loving, and loving is doing. It isn’t love without.”
Do you understand Tom’s answer? It means if you know Jesus, then you will love Jesus, and there is something for you to do to show that you love Him. There are many, many children and grown-ups all around us who are still far from God and in their sins. They need to hear the good news of God’s love and forgiveness for sinners. If you know and love Jesus, ask Him to show you ways that you can share with others the good news that there is a Savior for sinners.
Messages of God’s Love 10/10/2021