Consecration 87 A friend of mine—whose name I will not give—was a business man in one of our great American cities. He was an able financier and had become wealthy. Thus it came to pass that he was living in a beautiful brown stone house, situated on a prominent avenue, and in luxury. At the same time he was a Christian, being an elder in a Presbyterian church and generally active in good works. It was thus, when Mr. Hudson Taylor visited his city in 1888, that my friend offered to entertain him. The arrangement was brought to pass, and Mr. Taylor, was in his home for about a week. My friend was thus brought into close contact with a man of God, the like of whom he had never before seen. As the days went by he was increasingly impressed by the godliness and winsomeness of the life before him. Finally, after Mr. Taylor had departed to another place, my friend knelt down and said to God: “Lord, if Thou wilt make me something like that little man I will give Thee everything I’ve got.” And the Lord took him at his word. From that time onward his spiritual life visibly deepened and developed. At last one day he said to his wife: ' “My dear, don’t you think we can do with a .less expensive house than this, so that we may re duce; our living expenses and give more money to the Lord?” He then proposed that they should sell the property, build a cheaper house, and give what might thus be gained to foreign missions.. Happily, he had a wife who wns a true “helpmeet” to him, and she heartily agreed to the proposal. So the old property was sold, the new house was built, and the sum gained was given to God for His cause abroad. About two years later my friend spoke again to his wife on this wise: “Dear, I fee! badly about this house. The architect got me in for more money than I intended to spend on it. What do you say to selling it ? I have got a lot on an adjacent street, and we can build there a cheaper house than this, and then we can give the difference to foreign missions.” My friend’s wife was not a woman who liked changes. However.
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