when a beautiful little girl was born.
This young couple was unsaved, in fact
they had somehow grown to hate
anything & everything that had anything
to do with God, & His Son Jesus Christ.
presenting the baby to the Lord for
His blessing, they made a vow that the
little girl, whom we shall call Melinda
was never to be allowed exposure to
anything that had anything to do with
Christianity.
allowed to go to Sunday School.If a
preacher or soul winners from a local
church visited their home,Melinda was
sent to her room before the visitors
were let in.
well-to-do; & she had more toys & dolls
than she could keep up with, & ate only
the best of foods & wore the very best
clothing money could buy.
cultural training. She studied piano,
voice, & ballet with the best teachers &
instructors money could afford.; but her
parents were doing a very good job of
keeping her away from learning anything
about the Lord.
husband a birthday cake, & she discovered
that she lacked a certain ingredient. She
called her beautiful nine-year old daughter
& gave her some money & sent her to the store
to purchase the ingredient.
straight down the street to the store,
purchase the article & come straight
home. Melinda, glad to be going out in
the sunny spring day, skipped down the
street, went into the store & purchased
the article, & started back home.
a different route home, so she turned
left at an intersection & walked up a
back street. She knew that it would
intersect a little farther up with the
street that would lead to her home, so
no harm could come of it.
As she walked along, She began to hear
some pretty singing & music, & the
farther she walked, the louder it became.
& music was coming from a big
building just across the street
from her. Melinda loved music
& singing, & she possessed the
natural curiosity of a nine year
old, so she crossed the street &
entered the building.
mission house, & inside was a goodly
number of down-and-outers: a cross
section of the folks from the lower
echelon of society; but many seated
there had experienced the regenerating
power of receiving Jesus Christ into
their lives. Some were there,
just fulfilling their obligation
for having been given breakfast
& perhaps some article of clothing.
back & smiled at the beautiful little
girl. She sat down in back, thinking
she would stay just a little while &
listen to the group on the podium
singing such a beautiful song, but one
she had never heard before.
came to the podium & welcomed
the assemblage. After a word
of prayer, he began to preach.
Melinda knew she should get
up & hurry on home, but
something seemed to hold
her to her seat.
Who Jesus is, & the many
compassionate miracles he
performed, & finally
describing his arrest,
trial & cruel treatment
by the Roman solders
& King Herod Antipas'
guards; & finally his
crucifixion.
were being sacrificed for a covering
for sin, Jesus Christ became the Lamb
of God; not to cover our sins, but to
take them away. Jesus had never
committed a sin as we have, but he
took all our sins to the Cross, & was
nailed there: shedding His precious
blood to cleanse us from all sin &
make us ready to go to Heaven.
why it was necessary for Christ to
come down to earth & give His life
on Calvary's cross to pay our sin debt.
Tears flowed from Melinda's beautiful
hazel eyes.
podium to join the missionary, the
piano started up, & they began to
sing "There's Room At the Cross
For You". After the first verse
& chorus the missionary began the
altar call with the group singing
softly behind him.
"Some of you have gone too long,
living you life without Jesus & his
wonderful gift of salvation.
house we have offered many of
you gifts of food, shelter &
articles of clothing.You
accepted those gifts, & we're
glad; but a greater gift is being
offered: the greatest gift ever
offered to anyone. The free gift
of salvation. And with that gift,
another wonderful thing comes to
pass: you are adopted into the
family of God & become joint heirs
with Christ."
the aisle to the altar in front of
the podium. Her face was streaked
with tears. A lady knelt beside
Melinda & hugged her; then took
her Bible and quietly explained
how she could give her heart &
life to Jesus and be saved.
Melinda repeated the sinner's prayer.
of glory" in Melinda's heart as
she left the mission house. When
she had started from home there
was a warm sun shining, but now
a cold rain was pouring down.
Melinda knew she would be punished
for being gone so long & worrying
her parents.
pretty dress was drenched, &
her blonde curls hung limp down
the side of her face. She shivered.
Melinda's mother angrily jerked
her around to face her, plying
her with questions about where
she had been so long. Her father
came in with an expression on his
face that scared Melinda.
sorry I worried you by being gone so
long, but I have something wonderful
to tell you. I heard some pretty
singing & music, & went inside a
building. They told me all about
Jesus dying on a cross.
Mama-Daddy; I gave my heart to
Jesus and ------" Melinda was
interrupted by a loud anguished
sound coming from deep in her
father's throat. He uttered
blasphemous profane exclamations,
& became as a man possessed.
like that: then she saw him strip
off his heavy belt & approach her.
Melinda's mother wept in loud cries
as her husband beat her daughter
until she fell to the floor,
mercifully passing out. For two
days Melinda was confined to her
bedroom.
bruises, but some lacerations.
Her mother applied ointments &
alcohol rub, saying very little;
sometimes with tears in her eyes.
Melinda awakened with a raging
fever & raspy breathing. A
doctor was summoned; his
diagnosis being double pneumonia.
These were the days before
penicillin was available.
Several medications were tried,
but Melinda's condition only
worsened. The fever raged on;
& Melinda moved in & out of
consciousness; sometimes
murmuring bits & pieces of
the wonderful things she
had heard at the mission.
Her mother sat by her bed patting
her forehead with a cold cloth.
The doctor came by briefly,
leaving the room sadly
shaking his head.
in bed & called for her mother.
Her mother had lost a lot of
sleep, & had dozed off when
she was awakened by Melinda's call.
When she saw her sitting up in bed
it gave her a happy start.
She thought the fever had broke
& there would be a chance for
Melinda to recover after all.
"Mama. "Melinda said softly.
"Yes, sweetheart; I'm here."
"Mama, I want you to bring
me the dress I was wearing
that day." "No honey. "Her
mother groaned. "You don't
want to see that thing. It
was soiled and torn-and-had
some bloodstains on it. I
threw it in the trash."
"Please Mama; go and get
it for me." "But why,
Melinda? "Her mother protested.
Melinda's father appeared in
the doorway of the bedroom
with guilt & grief written
all over his haggard face.
again, closing her eyes. She
hadn't seen her father enter.
She spoke softly, but loud
enough for both parents to
hear her final words on earth.
I would be going to Heaven soon.
I wanted to take the dress with
me so I could show Jesus that I
shed some blood for him.
