Willie's Master

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 12
 
"JAMIE, I canna bear to hear ye speak o' my Maister in sic a way as that." These words were spoken with intense earnestness by Willie S., a young lad employed in a large shipbuilding yard in the West of Scotland, as he laid his hand upon the arm of an old shipwright, well known as the most foulmouthed man in the yard, who seemed on this day to outvie himself as he poured forth a torrent of blasphemous abuse of the Bible and the Saviour.
For some weeks gospel meetings had been held in the neighboring town, and, among others, Willie had been led to the Lord Jesus Christ. Ever since then it had been a daily grief to Willie to hear old Jamie D. speaking in mockery and derision of those sacred truths which were now so dear to him. Today, however, Jamie spoke so insultingly of the Saviour Himself that Willie could bear it no longer, and walking quietly across the yard, with a hurried prayer for grace and wisdom, he thus accosted the old blasphemer, "Jamie, I canna bear to hear ye speak o' my Maister in sic a way as that.”
“Wha's speaking o' yer Maister?" asked the man, gruffly, as he turned from his work to find himself confronted by the youthful Christian, with cheeks burning, eyes half filled with tears, and quivering lip, all telling of the deep emotion which affected him.
For a moment the lad seemed unable to speak, and then, as every eye in the yard was directed to him, he said, "Oh, Jamie! do ye no ken that the Lord Jesus Christ is my Maister? He deed instead o' me; and indeed, indeed, I canna bear to hear ye say sich things as that aboot Him.”
Jamie D. was so taken aback by this outburst, that he was unable to make any reply, and, almost before he was aware, Willie had quietly returned to his place and to his work.
The old man could see that the other men were touched by what had passed, and he went on with his work without remark, but no more bad language was heard from old Jamie D. that afternoon; and, indeed, the words of the young disciple had sunk deep into the poor blasphemer's soul. The heartfelt testimony of Willie S.'s love to his blessed Lord had moved the old man as nothing previously had done. He went himself to hear what the evangelists, who had told such gracious words to Willie S., had to say, and through them he learned the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, and, by God's grace, became a humble follower of the Master. H. A. C.