A Word in Season, How Good It Is.
By Bell V. Chisholm
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment." It was but a small thing, this repeating of a single verse among a score of others; but, to shy Bessy Hildreth it was a real cross. She had just come out on the Lord's side, and only the fear of denying her Master could have given her courage to open her lips, in the little Sunday evening prayer-meeting. Frightened at her own trembling tones, she shrank closer into the dark corner where she sat, and wished, oh! so fervently, that she had not attempted to speak at all. Had she not been trying to still the wild beating of her own heart, she would have noticed the startled look that came into a pair of dark eyes just opposite her. Ah, poor little, timid Bessy! could you have known that it was this very tremor in your voice that fastened the attention of careless Duncan Forbes on the solemn words you uttered, you would not have longed to recall them, or to have vainly wished them unsaid. Poor light-hearted Duncan had been familiar with the text since childhood, and had it not been for the quivering lips that repeated the words to-night, it would have been unheeded, as were the thirty other verses that had been spoken in his hearing. Hymns were sung, and fervent prayers ascended to Heaven, before the meeting closed; but Duncan heard nothing, except the terrifying words, "After this the Judgment." In the silence of his own chamber, the voice still rang in his ears; and when he courted sleep, visions of the great white throne passed vividly before him. The morning light brought no sweet peace, neither did the business of the day dispel the gloom that had settled upon his spirits. He read his Bible, and tried to pray, but twenty-one years of sin and folly passed in solemn review before him, appalling him with their magnitude, and utterly choking the petitions already formed in his heart. Almost in despair, he slipped quietly into the prayer-meeting the next Sunday evening, and before its close he startled the little praying band by requesting them to intercede for him at the throne of grace. He stated what had caused his awakening, and humbly asked for aid and direction. Before the close of that memorable meeting he had found rest to his soul. With the love of Jesus fresh in his heart he persuaded others, his dear companions and friends, to seek the one thing needful. Soon souls were anxiously inquiring the way heavenward; and a precious revival, such as the village of Melville had never enjoyed, followed, and, in the end, more than sixty new converts dated their new life to Bessy Hildreth's faithful performance of duty. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper."—Bell V. Chisholm, in S. S. Times.