That was how the letter ended. Now let me tell the story of both the writer and the letter. When I first met him he was just passing out of his teens into a promising young manhood. His home life had furnished him with many advantages, and his natural ability, linked with a fair education, pointed to a successful career. But the trashy and sensational literature upon which he constantly feasted made him restless. The most reasonable restraint of home became irksome and distasteful to him.
Little by little there was aroused within him a desire for adventure. He was weary of the monotony of the little town, and longed to see life—the gay and boisterous life of which he had read so much. He, too, would taste the rapturous joy, and feel the thrills of a freer, bigger world. And so one morning there was consternation in the old home—Tom was missing! In his bedroom was found a note, to the effect that he was "fed up!" and was out to see life in the world for himself.
Through the long, dark night he sped along familiar roads, passing many a well-known village and town. Never had his bicycle seemed to serve him so well. A well-packed suitcase strapped behind contained clothing that would last him some time, while a well-filled purse helped to furnish him with the first of his longed-for thrills—he was out to see life! What mattered it that it was at other people's expense?
His second thrill was found in a new name. Dropping his old identity, he signed the hotel register in a certain city as Bertram Wallis. Swiftly he had reached the "far country" and the "riotous living," and then followed the easy path to the swine troughs. Boon companions, who gaily helped him to empty his purse, disappeared. Soon his suitcase was in the keeping of the pawnbroker. His loved bike sold for a small sum. Then he found himself penniless, homeless, and friendless.
Pulling himself together he tried, but all in vain, to secure employment. Nobody wanted him—he was too obviously a wastrel. How he began to long for the old home! But the memory of his shameful departure made return impossible. And so he determined to make one more effort to see life.
When I saw him later, he was a smart-looking soldier! A few months of strict army discipline had re-shaped him physically, but it had not quenched his craving for the thrills of life. He began to chafe under the rigid routine of the barracks.
It was at this time that he came under more helpful influences. Christian workers in a "Soldier's Home" sought to help him in every way possible. They soon won his confidence and secured the story of his life. His attendance at the devotional meeting gave them the opportunity to show him the folly and the peril of a life given wholly to selfish indulgence. At the same time they told him that, in spite of all the failure and sin of the past, there was hope in Christ who had died for the ungodly. "When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Rom. 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6).
He learned, therefore, that there was hope for him, because God loves to pardon all who are willing to own their guilt and "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."
He seemed to listen earnestly to the wonderful story of salvation as set forth in God's infallible Word, but to their sorrow they saw that he was determined to continue in his own way.
Neither the constraining love of Christ, nor the fact of the ultimate wrath of God towards the impenitent, seemed to move him. He had set out to see life, and he would still pursue its fleeting, mocking pleasures. Once more he was seized with the old, passionate restlessness, with its craving for excitement. The barracks seemed like a prison, from which he determined escape.
There was consternation in the Depot: Private Wallis had deserted! A comrade's watch was missing, and another man's wallet! There was further consternation through the disappearance of a new bicycle belonging to one of the staff at the Soldier's Home. Inquiries were set on foot, but months passed without news of the missing lad. The incident was nearly forgotten when a letter arrived. It enclosed a receipt for a bicycle which had been left in a cloakroom in a faraway seaside town. With the receipt was a letter from Wallis—the saddest letter ever read. It was a pitiful confession of sin and shame and despair. "I have made a mess of my life," he wrote, "and I see no hope for me. By the time you get this I shall have made my grave in the water. Yours, A Fool."
That week the local papers told of an inquest upon the body of a young soldier named Bertram Wallis, and the verdict was—"found drowned."
Unsaved friend, none but Christ can satisfy. He longs to save and to keep all who will come unto Him by simple faith in His atoning death upon the cross. Accept the Savior NOW, and He will not only save you eternally from the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin day by day. Believe in Him and you will receive ETERNAL LIFE!
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that Sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).