176
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
May, 1934
god often w a it s — He
Forgets
B y ELMER L.A&ILDER* Los Angeles, California
SwK'lr W(* W
O ne evening, a year ago last De cember, my family and I re at the church, to find that a burglar had been there before us. Several arti cles of value were missing. The type writer was gone. And the little box, securely tucked away in the drawer of the library table, had disappeared. The box contained only $2.54, but this was the Lord’s money-—the offerings re ceived at the Junior Christian Endeavor meetings, to be sent to foreign mission
turned to our home, after a meeting
aries. To the- children, especially to our seven-year-old Ruth, who was the treasurer, it was a vast and a sacred sum. Almost immediately, the boys and girls began to pray for two definite objects: First, that the burglar might be led to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour; and then that he would return the money, that it might be used as intended, to take the gospel to those in foreign lands. For two weeks, prayer continued. And then one day an officer came to our door, asking for the number of the stolen typewriter. “Well,” he said, as he glanced at the figures, “the thief is out there in the car at the curb, with another officer.” There, within a few feet of the house, was the man for whom we had been praying! “What is his name?” I asked. “Jack Reno.” “Officer,” I said, “I’d like the privilege of talking with that man in the jail. Will you dismiss,my charge against him, so that if I may speak to him, there shall be no barrier between us?” “Oh, there are plenty of other charges against him! He’s a drug addict—has already served four terms in peni tentiaries. Go see him if you like.” When I visited Jack Reno, he looked up at me with sad eyes, questioningly. “Mr. Reno,” I said, “I have no animosity in my heart toward you. You broke into my home and took a few things, but I realize you did it in order to satisfy a terrible craving—an appetite which you find you cannot control.” The hard lines in his face seemed to soften. “Mr. Reno,” I added, “I believe it is providential that our paths have crossed.” He made no comment, and I went
A H ouse B ecomes a H ome W hen C hrist I s the H ead have is a change of heart, which can come only by accept ing Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.” A light of recognition brightened his face. “I know!” he replied. “I know what you’re talking about.” Memory reached into the forgotten past and brought back a beautiful picture. “I was reared in a Christian home”—the words came slowly, as though the value of every one of them was being measured. “As a boy, I went to Sunday-school. My mother—.” His eyes were dimmed with tears. “Is she living ?” I asked gently, in an effort to help him. “No,” he said, “she died—thirty years ago!” Jack Reno told me about that mother;—a woman who had known God and had trusted Him. As he spoke, I could easily visualize the scene at her deathbed. Reluctant to leave her precious fourteen-year-old boy, she had drawn him to her side and had committed him to God, asking earnestly that he might come to know her Christ and serve Him. Then thirty years had elapsed—years in which that prayer had been seemingly forgotten. The lad had grown, had received a good education, and had become a qualified civil engineer. But godless companions and bad habits had dragged him down, until, at last, he had actually stooped
to the burglarizing of homes in order to get money to satisfy the craving of a narcotic appetite. “You did not enter my home by accident,” I said. “Your Christian mother undoubtedly prayed that you would know Christ. And now, although for thirty years you have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, He is still ready to save you—to answer your mother’s prayer—if you will accept Him.” During the two weeks which fol lowed, I visited him often. Each time, I was careful to explain the plan of sal vation, showing how Christ could take away sin and give peace. One day Mr. Reno said to me thoughtfully, “I believe there is something in it, and if there is,
on to tell him of the love of God in Christ, of His power to save, to liberate one from the bondage of an evil appe tite, and to give a new nature. Cour teous and attentive, the prisoner lis tened. “What is needed is not that you should turn over a new leaf,” I re minded him, “or make good resolutions, or do the best you can. What you must *Pastor, Trinity Congregational Church.
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