A lady missionary was talking to a group of Chinese women and children in a little gospel hall. She heard a peculiar sound outside and in came a stranger, a young woman walng with the help of a little wooden bench, for she was deformed like the poor woman of whom we read in Luke 13:11-1311And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (Luke 13:11‑13). She had a beautiful face and looked very intelligent. She listened with intense interest, for it must have been her first opportunity to hear the glad tidings about the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who can take away our load of sin under which we are bent down. She heard about the happy land which the Lord has prepared for all who know Him as their Saviour, where there is no more sickness, sorrow, pain nor death.
The missionary inquired about her and learned that she was a newcomer, and lived in a little hut on a nearby hill. After two days the missionary went to see her, but it was too late. She had died suddenly with cholera, the day before. She had heard the gospel only once, and we wonder if she had believed it.
Dear reader, how about you? You may have heard the gospel many times, but have you received the Lord Jesus as your own personal Saviour? Do you know Him as the One who bore the judgment of God for your sins on the cross, and who is now a risen, living Saviour in heaven?
ML 11/07/1954