John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brotherPaton, John Gibson
Religion
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother
Paton, John Gibson
Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography; Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907
We entered the house together, signed a pledge, and solemnly invoked
God in prayer to enable us to keep it till death. For his sake, I
renewed the vow of my youthful days; and he, by my sympathy, took this
vow for the first time, and, by God’s help, he kept it. He left Penola
next day, shaking off old associates, and started a humble business
where he had once owned much of the land. He became a Christian out and
out, and has been an Elder of the Church for many years. I have often
been laughed at by whisky drinkers, and also by so-called “temperance”
men, for being a Total Abstainer; but even one case like that (and,
thank God, there are many) is an eternal reward, and can sustain us to
smile down all ridicule.
Dear reader, can you measure the effect of the example which you are
setting? Are you to-day amongst the ranks of the moderate drinkers?
Remember that from that class all drunkards have come; and ask yourself
whether you would not act more nobly and unselfishly to abstain, for
the interests of our common Humanity, for loyalty to our Lord Jesus
Christ, and for the hope of leading a pure and unstained life yourself,
as well as helping others to do so, whom Jesus died to save?
The crowning adventure of my tour came about in the following manner:
I was advertised to conduct Services at Narracoort on Sabbath, and at
a Station on the way on Saturday evening. But how to get from Penola
was a terrible perplexity. On Saturday morning, however, a young lady
offered me, out of gratitude for blessings received, the use of her
riding horse for the journey. “Garibaldi” was his name; and, though
bred for a race-horse, I was assured that if I kept him firmly in hand,
he would easily carry me over the two-and-twenty miles. He was to be
left at the journey’s end, and the lady herself would fetch him back. I
shrank from the undertaking, knowing little of horses, and having vague
recollections of being dreadfully punished for more than a week after
my last and almost only ride. But every one in that country is quite at
ease on the back of a horse. They saw no risk; and, as there appeared
no other way of getting there to fulfil my engagements, I, for my part,
began to think that God had unexpectedly provided the means, and that
He would carry me safely through.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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