A story told by John Nelson Darby, an esteemed servant of Christ.

One evening at the close of a cold winter day in Kerry, Ireland, there was a knock at the door. A poor man wished to see me. He apologized for coming at such a late hour, but he feared his only son was dying. I rose immediately and followed him. Their isolated cabin was perched on a mountain side about an hour's walk away over steep hills.

As we entered the humble abode, I discovered in one corner of the hut a heap of straw on which lay the sick lad. He was about seventeen years of age, evidently in a state of extreme suffering and exhaustion, in the last stage of tuberculosis.

I told him as quietly as possible why I had come, and put a few simple questions to him as to his hope of salvation and the eternal world to which he was fast hastening. He appeared totally unconscious of my meaning, but I discovered from the few words he uttered that he had heard something of God and future judgment, but he had never been taught to read.

The Holy Scriptures were a sealed book to him, and he was altogether ignorant of the way of salvation as revealed to us in the gospel. His mind on this subject was an utter blank. I was struck with dismay, and almost with despair. Here was a soul on the verge of eternity, and in utter darkness. What was I to do? I raised my heart to God for guidance and instruction to put the way of salvation clearly before hin, and then I said to him, "It looks like you are very ill."

"Yes, the cough takes my breath away and hurts me greatly."

"Have you had this cough long?"

"Yes, nearly a year now."

"How did you catch it? A Kerry boy should be used to cold air."

"Ah," he answered, "so I was until that terrible night. It was about this time last year when one of the sheep went astray and my father sent me to look for it. Snow covered the ground, and the cold wind pierced right through me. But I didn't mind, as I was anxious to find father's sheep."

"And did you find it?" I asked with increasing interest.

"Oh, yes! I never stopped until I found it."

"How did you get it home?"

"I just laid it on my shoulders and carried it home."

"Was everyone at home glad to see you and the sheep?"

"Sure enough, that they were," he replied. "Father and mother, and the neighbors were all happy."

Wonderful! I thought. Here is the whole gospel story. The sheep is lost. The father sends his son to seek it. The son goes willingly, suffers all without complaining, and in the end sacrifices his life to find the sheep, and when found, he carries the lost sheep home on his shoulders, and rejoices with his friends.

I explained to this poor dying lad the plan of salvation, making use of his own experiences. I opened my Bible and read Luke 15:2-7, where the care of the shepherd for the strayed sheep is so beautifully expressed. He at once perceived the likeness, and followed with deep interest the full meaning of the parable.

The Lord mercifully opened not only his understanding, but his heart also, to receive the Word spoken. He himself was the lost sheep, Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd, who was sent by the Father to seek for him, and who left all the joys of that Father's heavenly glory to come down to earth and search for him and other lost ones like himself.

Just as the poor boy had borne without murmuring the freezing cold and piercing wind, so has the blessed Saviour endured the fierce contradictions of sinners against Himself, and the bitter scorn and insults heaped upon Him, without opening His mouth to utter one word of complaint, and at last laid down His precious life, that we might be rescued from destruction. Neither will He trust His beloved ones, when rescued, to tread the perilous path alone, but bears them on His shoulders rejoicing until safely in their everlasting home.

The poor sick lad drank it all in. He believed and accepted Christ as his Saviour. I never saw a clearer proof of the power of the divine Spirit to apply the Word of God. He lived only a few days, and died peacefully with the words, "Jesus, my Saviour, my Shepherd" on his lips.