A great evangelist closed his sermon with an appeal for his hearers to surrender their lives to Christ. A score or more responded, among them a woman of wealth, who was well known in social circles. She asked the minister if she might say a few words. Imagine the surprise of all when she said:

“I wanted to tell you why I have come forward tonight. It was not because of the excellent sermon delivered by the preacher, but because of the sermon I have seen from day to day in the life of this little woman sitting near me. Her hands are disfigured and hardened by daily toil; the burdens of years have stooped her frame. She is just a humble washerwoman. For a number of years she has served my home, but in all this time, her life has been above even the slightest reproach. Not one unkind word has passed her lips; not one frown have I seen upon her brow; not once has she become impatient, although she might have found many excuses for so doing.

“Under the most trying conditions she has manifested a sweet Christian spirit. Quietly she has done countless little acts of love for others. I am sorry to say it, but I have sneered at her simple faith, and taunted her for her childlike trust in God. But when trouble came to my home, when my little girl was snatched from me by the cruel hand of death, it was this humble child of God who brought the first ray of hope to my troubled soul. There is a sweet magnetism about her consistent life that has drawn me to the Saviour, and there is a longing in my heart to love and follow her Master.”

The minister asked that the godly washerwoman should come forward. Happy tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her face was lighted up with joy.

“I want to introduce you,” said the evangelist, “to the real preacher of the evening.”

By Charles L. Paddock Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) December 22, 1931, Pacific Press. With permission from Dale Galusha dalgal@pacificpress.com.