"I suppose my buddy and I were nearly the worst men in the regiment." So said a young soldier to me. "But," he continued: "my buddy became converted, and I tried by every means I knew to get him back into his old ways. But he was settled fast in his faith. How this did distress me! I had lost my influence with him.
"I was pretty well taught in the Scriptures, and had received a good education. In fact I had been brought up to fit into a good position in society; but it profited me nothing. I enlisted, and went from bad to worse.
"One day a missionary came into the barrack-room. He seemed a sincere man, and I thought, 'Well, I will soon surprise you.' I had always done so before, and had no doubt that I could do so now. He listened to my sophistries and rantings, and when I had done, he said most solemnly: 'My friend, you need Christ!' He fixed his eyes upon me and said again: 'You need Christ.'
"Instantly I looked for some word to discomfit him, but none came. I found no way of escape, and soon went and lay upon my bed. His certainty of my need was a startling eye-opener, and I grew sick and weary at heart. But he followed me there, saying over and over: 'Friend, you need Christ! You need Christ.'
"Deeply distressed, I at last promised to go to a preaching he was to hold that night. And I did go, in spite of every effort of Satan and man to prevent; and, thank God, He sent me home a saved man. It was through His own words: 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' " John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
Perhaps the reader's case finds no parallel in that of this young soldier. Maybe you are not openly profane or irreligious. Perhaps you take no pride in your knowledge of Scripture, and yet believe yourself to be "all right;" but if you have not Christ, you are as far from happiness and heaven as that soldier lad before he found the Savior.