After Many Days

Little Ronnie Walters quickly finished dressing. It was Sunday morning and Mother was already waiting for him. They lived in the city of Glasgow, only four blocks from church. It was a beautiful day so they would walk to church this morning.

But not everyone was planning to attend church that morning. As Ronnie walked along holding his mother’s hand, two very rough looking young men came staggering past them. Dressed in dirty clothes and seeing Ronnie neatly dressed for church, the men laughed loudly and began to sing a song full of profanity.

Ronnie pressed closer to his mother, wishing the men would disappear. But to his surprise, Mother said, “Ronnie, quickly run after those men and invite them to come to church with us.” Ronnie could not believe his ears. Why would Mother say such a thing? But willing to obey, Ronnie fearfully ran after the two men calling, “Wait! I want to talk to you!”

“Well, what is this? The little gentleman wants to talk to the likes of us. What do you want, kid?”

Timidly, Ronnie answered, “Mother says you are invited to attend church with us this morning. You can sit with us in our pew.”

“Attend church? Hah! Never in your life!” said one of the men as he turned away. Then swearing terribly, he staggered on his way down the street.

But the other man hesitated. He started to follow his friend, but then turned back to Ronnie. Looking thoughtfully at the little boy, he said, “You know, Sonny, when I was about your age I went to church every Sunday. Now I haven’t been to church for many years. But I don’t feel right about it. I believe I will go with you.”

Now Ronnie was no longer afraid. He was happy that the man had agreed. Taking his rough hand, he led him back to Mother. Together they walked into church and sat in their usual place.

Rev. Coates was preaching that morning. The young man listened as the minister read his text. “Our text for this morning’s service can be found in Ecclesiastes 11:1 where we read, ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.’” Rev. Coates then preached a very powerful sermon about man’s duty towards God and his neighbor.

As he listened, the stranger seemed to become very discouraged and unhappy. After the service Mother asked him, “Sir, do you have a Bible?”

“No,” he answered, “But I will try to get one.”

“Here,” she said. “Take Ronnie’s until you are able to find one of your own. But be sure you come back next Sunday. We will save a place for you again.”

“Thank you, Ma’am! I will try.” The stranger put Ronnie’s Bible in his pocket and hurried away.

That evening, Mrs. Walters prayed earnestly for the young stranger. “Oh Lord, please remember the young man who came to Thy house today. Teach him out of Thy Word and bring him to church again next Sunday.”

But the next Sunday passed without any sign of the young man. After church Mother said, “Oh, Ronnie, I am so sad that he did not come! We must pray for him every day.”

Another Sunday passed, and again Mother was disappointed. But on the third Sunday, the young man came to church again. Now he was neatly dressed, but he was very pale. Had he been ill?

As soon as the service was over, the young man laid Ronnie’s Bible on the seat of their pew and quickly left. No one even had a chance to speak to him, and he never returned to church.

As Ronnie and his mother walked home from church, Mother turned the pages of the little Bible. On a blank page she found a message from the stranger that said, “Please remember me in your prayers.” The message was signed only with the initials “W.C.”

Many years passed and Ronnie became a man. He stayed with his mother and cared for her in her old age. Then one day his godly mother passed away, and Ronald was left alone. He now had to face the future on his own; he had to decide what to do. Ronald had always loved the sea, so he decided to be a doctor on a ship.

After many years of sailing, Ronald’s ship was docked one weekend at a harbor in South Africa. When Sunday came, Ronald attended the service in a local church. After the service ended, a gentleman who had sat behind him leaned forward and said, “Excuse me, Sir, but may I see your Bible a moment?”

Ronald handed him the Bible and watched as he quickly flipped through several pages. The gentleman then returned Ronald’s Bible and followed him outside. As Ronald turned to go back to the ship, he felt a hand on his arm. “Please, Sir, I must speak with you!”

Turning, Ronald found the same gentleman who had asked to borrow his Bible. “Why, certainly!” he answered. “Here is a bench. Let’s just sit here for a while.”

But instead of speaking, the gentleman sat studying Ronald’s face. Then suddenly he bowed his head, and his whole body shook with great sobs. When he was able to speak again, he asked, “What is your name? Where are you from?”

When Ronald answered his questions, he continued, “Oh, I can’t believe that we have met again after all these years, in a foreign land! Do you remember one time when you were a little boy that you invited a rough, mocking man to come to church with you?”

“Why, yes! I do remember! Are you the man my mother prayed for for so many years?”

“I am so thankful to meet you again! I have often wanted to tell you the story of my life. You see, I also had Christian parents who gave me a Christian education. But my father died when I was only fifteen years old, so I had to quit school. I had to go to work to help support my mother.

“My mother was a very godly woman. She tried to teach me the fear of the Lord. But at my new job, I worked with many wicked men. I soon learned and was guilty of all sorts of sins, and that broke my poor mother’s heart. After that I left the country to escape the law.

“I had stopped in Glasgow when you saw me. Seeing you as you were on your way to church with your mother that morning, made me feel guilty. Then attending the service that morning brought to memory how I used to attend church with my mother. It made me remember how she used to pray for me, and especially when I broke her heart!”

At this point his voice broke and he could not go on for some time. At last he said with a shudder, “My dear mother! I have brought down her gray hairs with sorrow to the grave!”

Again he was overcome with grief, and tears flowed down his cheeks. “That service convicted me of guilt so severely that I became very ill for some time. It was on my sick bed that I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as the heavenly Physician who could heal both body and soul. Your invitation that morning was used as the means that led to my conversion.”

Ronald was filled with wonder and gratitude as he listened to this amazing story. He learned that Henry Bates, the rough looking man from long ago, was a missionary who had worked in South Africa now for many years.

“And do you remember the other rough man who was with me on that Sunday morning? He has been hanged for committing a terrible crime. Except for the grace of God, I would have been in that crime with him. I have been saved from the very brink of heil!”

As Henry finished his story, Ronald exclaimed, “When I remember how often my mother prayed for you, I see how beautifully God’s Word has been fulfilled! ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it back after many days’” (Eccl. 11:1).

— JL

BEING CLOTHED

Are you a listener? Sometimes you must listen because someone is speaking to you. At other times you listen because a person is speaking so loudly to another that you cannot help hearing what is being said.

What do you hear? Many things, no doubt; but when the conversations are analyzed, do not many fall into a category mentioned by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount: “What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal (with what) shall we be clothed?” (Matt. 6:31).

The last question is the one that we shall think about now. When Adam and Eve were created, the Bible tells us “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25). Then came the fall and sin entered into the world. The first thing they realized was that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Then, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21). So from the earliest times God showed His mind that our bodies should be clothed.

What we wear or are able to buy to wear is often governed by “fashion”; but fashion is sometimes very extreme. Not everybody realizes how much Satan himself and his legion of evil spirits is behind many designers of clothes, putting suggestions forward which clearly show that “their wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual (worldly) and devilish” (James 3:15). One of our old ministers used to give this advice: “Follow fashion afar off” (at a distance). This advice needs to be taken by both old and young, for let those readers who are older remember that their children will follow their example. Woe unto those parents who see their children following the world in their dress, only because of their own bad and sad example! Fashion followed closely invariably leads to pride, but the Scripture says, “Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).

The choice of clothes is important, too, because it can be that those that are worn, and how they are worn, will reveal the state of our mind, showing whether we fear God or not, whether our spirit is humble or proud. A good yardstick is: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5).

Now just a few thoughts on the spiritual view of clothing. In this respect our natural mind has only one idea of right clothing in which we may stand before God, and that is our own righteousness, the result of good works. What a shock some have received when these words from the Scriptures have been lively and strong to them: “All your righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). How can they stand in filthy rags before the King of kings? The hymn says: “Stripped of all their fancied meetness, to approach the dread I AM.”

What can such sinners do? The Holy Spirit reveals to them that when Christ Jesus came to this earth, one of God’s purposes was that His dear Son should live a perfect life and by so doing weave a robe of righteousness to give them who, by the grace of God, are able to believe. This experience is wonderful and is beautifully described in the hymn:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.

When I shall launch in worlds unseen,
O may I then be found in Him,
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

May grace be given to you all, of His holy will, that you may be guided to dress properly as you go through this life and spiritually to realize that you are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus and thus are ready to depart when your time comes, to be “with Christ, which is far better.”

—L.S.B. Hyde

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