Author Unknown
I got on a streetcar in Buffalo, N. Y., and when the conductor came for my fare, I gave him a leaflet entitled, “Where Hell Is.” As I handed it to him, he laughed and said, “You always give me one of those religious papers; I suppose you think I am a very wicked fellow, but I am about as good as they make them.” I held up my Bible and asked, “Do you see this Book? It tells me that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. (Jer. 17:9). That means your heart and mine. It does not sound very pleasant, does it?”
Oh, well,” he said, “there is plenty of time for me to think about these things; I am still young.”
“Yes,” I said, “but if you go into any graveyard, you will see graves of all sizes. “A little girl once asked her mother how old one must be before he dies. The wise mother gave her child a long piece of string and told her to go into the graveyard and measure the graves, and every time she measured to tie a knot. Soon the girl returned with the string full of knots. ‘Look, Mother, the graves are all sizes.” ‘Yes, dear, that is when people die-at all times and ages.’ ”
Again the young man laughed and said, “There is plenty of time for me. “Remember, the time is short; and you need not go to a Christless grave. Jesus died for you,” I said as I left the car.
The next morning I traveled by the same car, but a new conductor was there, who told me that the man I had spoken to the day before had missed his footing, was run over by a car, and so seriously injured that he died in a few hours. I felt very sad, thinking that he had indeed found a Christless grave. I went to his home, and as I looked upon that young man’s dead face, I could not help thinking what an awful warning it was to anyone who thinks there is plenty of time.
I tell you, the time is short. (Ps. 89:47). “After this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27). God, in His love and mercy, had given this young man time, but oh, how short the time was! God gave the last message. This may be God’s last message to you, my reader! Remember, “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (II Cor. 6:2). Do you think that “doing the best you can” will save you? Listen: “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” (Prov. 28:26). Again, “He that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.” (Prov. 28:14). “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Prov. 29:1). Oh, do come to the Saviour now! Tomorrow may be too late!
