What Can I Do For You?

By David A. Sargent

    During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln frequently visited the hospitals and addressed cheering words to the wounded warriors. On one occasion he found a young soldier whose legs had been amputated, and who was evidently sinking rapidly.
    “Is there anything I can do for you?” asked Lincoln.
    “You might write a letter to my mother,” was the faint reply.
    The President wrote at the youth's dictation: “My dearest mother: I have been shot bad, but am bearing up. I tried to do my duty. They tell me I cannot recover. God bless you and Father; kiss Mary and John for me.”
    At the end were these words as postscript: “Written by Abraham Lincoln.”
    When the boy perused the epistle and saw these added words, he looked with astonishment at the visitor and asked, “Are you our President?”
    “Yes,” was the quiet answer, “and now that you know that, is there anything else I can do for you?”
    Feebly the lad said, “I guess you might hold my hand, and see me through.”
    So, sitting down at the bedside, the tall, gaunt man with a kind heart held the soldier's hand through the livelong night till it grew cold and lifeless.
    Is it not a precious truth that Christ, the greatest of all kings, in our affliction is afflicted, and that He can be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities”? *
    “For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” – Hebrews 2:17-18
    In the words of a familiar song by Johnson Oatman, Jr.:
          No friend like Him is so high and holy,
          No, not one! no, not one!
          And yet no friend is so meek and lowly,
          No, not one! No, not one!

          Jesus knows all about our struggles;
          He will guide ’til the day is done:
          There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
          No, not one! No, not one!

    Jesus knows all about our struggles, and He cares. He cares so much that He gave His life so that we might be released from our greatest malady: sin. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
    God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sins those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).
    What can He do for you? He can identify with you and He can save your soul. And He will, if you will only trust and obey Him.
    Won’t YOU?
- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled "Living Water."  To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org

* “Compassion” in http://www.moreillustrations.com