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She called it “her barrel and her cruse”, for, she said, it had never failed her, and she had fed continually on the “Bread of Life”.
Nancy was an old woman who lived in Scotland long ago. She had been a God-fearing woman for most of her years. Her home was a lowly thatched cottage in one of the quiet glens of Scotland. Now she was sick and was quietly waiting for death to end her sufferings and to take her into the presence of the Savior who she loved. By her bedside on a small table lay her glasses and her well-thumbed Bible. She called it “her barrel and her cruse”, for, she said, it had never failed her, and she had fed continually on the “Bread of Life”.
A young man in the village often came to see her. He was a Christian in name, but not in his heart; he did not understand Nancy’s love of God’s Word. God was not real to him. Yet he loved to listen to her as she talked of her precious Savior. When she spoke of her home in heaven, it seemed very near. The young man was drawn by Nancy’s faith. One day he put this startling question to the happy saint: “What if, after all your watching and waiting and prayers and hopes and expectations, God should permit your soul to be lost forever?”
The faithful old Christian raised herself on her elbows, laid her right hand on her precious Bible, which lay open before her, and turning to look earnestly at the young man, she quietly said in her thick brogue, “And is that a’ ye know aboot the Bible, mon?” Then, her eyes sparkling with heavenly brightness, she continued, “God would hae the greater loss. Poor Nancy would only lose her soul. That would be a great loss indeed; but God would lose His honor and His character. Haven’t I hung my soul on His ‘exceeding great and precious promises’? And if He should break His Word, He would prove Himself untrue and a’ the universe would rush to ruin!”
How simple! How scriptural! How touching was the confidence of that dear old child of God in the certainty of His promises! The Bible promises are “exceeding great and precious” (2 Peter 1:4) in their certainty. Children, you may take those promises and ask God to fulfill them for you, too. You may say to God, “Thou hast promised to answer sinners when they pray to Thee, Lord. Answer me in grace, and make me Thy child.” God is willing to save. Ask Him to give you faith, so that you will love Him and trust Him like Nancy did.
“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4).
Question: What has God promised to sinners? What are God’s promises described as in 2 Peter?
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11.
Excerpt from
How God Used A THUNDERSTORM: And Other Devotional Stories
Joel R. Beeke & Diana Kleyn
Illustrated by Jeff Anderson
