ROCK OF AGES

Heather McDonald lived in a small village in the northern part of Scotland. One beautiful spring day she decided to visit her friend in a nearby village. Heather dressed Robbie, her baby boy, and set out on the two-hour walk to her friend’s house. Wild flowers were already blooming and the trees were full of buds. All signs of winter were gone. Heather enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation as she walked along.

After spending a pleasant afternoon with her friend, Heather started walking home again. Part way home, she noticed clouds beginning to move in from the north. The air began to get chilly, and she hurried on her way. But as she was crossing the empty fields, large snowflakes began to cover everything. A terrible, unexpected snowstorm was upon her. No houses were in sight and her own home was still about three miles away. Soon the snow reached past her ankles. A cold wind began to blow. Heather’s plaid scarf and jacket were not warm enough to keep out the cold. Realizing their danger, Heather began to run. Hugging little Robbie tightly to keep him as warm as possible, she hurried on through the deepening snow. Heather lifted her heart to the Lord in prayer. “Oh Lord! Help me! Please save us from this awful storm!”

The temperature was still dropping, and the snow made her stumble time and again. Soon the snow became a blinding blizzard as she struggled forward. Just as she felt that she could not go on, Heather came to a narrow valley. She knew that a village was a short way to her left. But her strength was gone and Robbie was beginning to cry from the bitter cold. Desperately, Heather stopped to decide what to do. She could no longer struggle through the deep snow. Robbie was becoming too heavy to carry and he was shaking from the cold. Looking up, Heather noticed a hollow place in a large rock nearby. With a prayer in her heart for her poor child’s safety, Heather made her brave decision. Quickly removing her jacket, she wrapped it around her son and carried him to the hollow in the rock. Carefully she laid him inside where he was sheltered from the wind. Then she removed her scarf and tucked it around him. With a sob, Heather turned away from her son. “Oh Lord,” she prayed, “please protect my son. I leave him in Thy care!”

The next morning, the storm had passed and many of the men from the area went out to search for those who were missing. Many people lost their lives in that terrible storm. As they searched the fields, they found the body of a young woman without a coat. They immediately recognized Heather, whom they all knew and respected. As they stood sadly with bowed heads, they heard a feeble cry. They looked up in surprise and immediately began to look for what sounded like a baby. They followed the sound to the rocks at the edge of the valley. Then looking up, one man spotted a bit of plaid scarf in an opening of one of the rocks. Rushing to the hollowed rock, the men found little Robbie carefully wrapped in his mother’s jacket, with her scarf tucked in all around him. The men sadly returned to the village with the body of Heather and little Robbie still wrapped in the jacket and scarf.

Heather was deeply mourned by the villagers. Her husband had died a short time before, and Robbie was all she had left. She was well-known in the village and deeply respected by all. She had often testified of her trust in the Lord and had given Him the honor due unto His Name.

Heather’s friends could only guess what had happened in that terrible storm. They were deeply moved to think of Heather giving her life in a last attempt to save her son. Many people attended the funeral to see their dear friend laid in her final resting place.

Heather had no relatives, but Hannah, her God-fearing friend, took little Robbie into her own home. She knew that Heather would have wanted her son to be brought up in the fear of the Lord. As Robbie grew, Hannah told him stories from the Bible and taught him to pray. She brought him to church and regularly taught him lessons from God’s Word.

Hannah also told him about his own mother as soon as he was old enough to understand. But Robbie heard the story so often that it did not impress him much. In spite of Hannah’s loving and careful teaching, Robbie began to keep company with bad friends. Soon he was involved in all kinds of trouble. By the time he had finished school, he was involved in various types of crime. At last, he was arrested and put in jail for seven years. Poor Hannah was heartbroken. It seemed that her prayers and the prayers of Robbie’s mother were all in vain.

When Robbie finally got out of jail, he joined the army. A war was being fought at the time and he was sent to the battlefield. After fighting for many months, one day Robbie was wounded in his leg and had to be taken to the hospital. Infection set in and his leg had to be taken off. Now he had to lie on his back day after day in terrible pain. At last Robbie began to think about home; he remembered the story of how his mother had given her life for him.

One day as Robbie was lying in the hospital, a nurse came to tend another man in his room. After speaking to this man, she began to sing for him. The words of the chorus caught Robbie’s attention:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

These words struck Robbie’s heart. The nurse, seeing that he was upset, came to speak to him. “What is the matter, Robbie?” she asked.

“Oh, nurse!” wailed Robbie, “the song you sang just now reminded me of how my mother saved my life when I was a baby. She hid me in the cleft of a rock to save me from a terrible storm. She even wrapped me in her own jacket and scarf, and then froze to death while trying to go for help!”

The nurse saw her opportunity to tell Robbie about the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His own life so that He could be the Rock of safety for his people. Robbie was deeply impressed, and the nurse hoped that God would apply this message savingly to his heart.

But soon Robbie was strong and well again. He was fitted with a wooden leg before he left the hospital. Before long, he returned to his old ways. Living a sinful life, he roamed from town to town. At last he decided to visit the place where he was born. Nothing looked familiar to him, but he decided to look for his mother’s grave before he left. The next day was Sunday, so he limped to the churchyard to look for her grave. He was pleased to see that her grave was carefully tended. But as he stood looking down on the grave of the one who had given her life for him, other thoughts began to fill his heart. He remembered verses from the Word of God that he had learned so long ago. These verses convicted him of his sin. Robbie felt how worthless he was in the sight of God. With bowed head, he followed the villagers into the church. There he heard a minister preach about the Savior who had given His life to save worthless sinners. Weeping bitterly, Robbie sank down in the pew. “Oh, Lord! Have mercy on me. I am worthless in Thy sight and do not deserve Thy mercy!”

It pleased the Lord to answer Robbie’s prayer. He lived for only five more years, but during that time he was able to testify what the Lord had done for his soul. He was often heard singing:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

— JL

My Bible and I

We’ve traveled together
My Bible and I,
Through all kinds of weather
With smile or with sigh!
In sorrow or sunshine,
In tempest or calm!
Thy friendship unchanging,
My lamp and my psalm.

We’ve traveled together,
My Bible and I,
When life had grown weary,
And death e’en was nigh!
But all through the darkness
Of mist or of wrong,
I found there a solace,
A prayer, and a song.

So now who shall part us,
My Bible and I?
Shall “isms” or schisms,
Or “new lights” who try?
Shall shadow for substance,
Or stone for good bread,
Supplant thy sound wisdom,
Give folly instead?

Ah, no, my dear Bible,
Exponent of light!
Thou sword of the Spirit,
Put error to flight!
And still through life’s journey,
Until my last sigh,
We’ll travel together,
My Bible and I.

— C. Sandford

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