home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The California Collection
/
TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr
/
his091
/
railroad.lzh
/
RAILROAD.TXT
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-07-11
|
7KB
|
149 lines
INS:Does this Railroad lead to Heaven? by Pastor F.M. Dosh
This is a true story taken from the 1894 edition of "Touching
Incidents And Remarkable Answers To Prayer." As you'll see, this
wonderful story seems to speak to adults as well as to children. It's
easy to see why Jesus urged the disciples to "Permit the little
children to come to Me, for to such as these belongs the kingdom of
heaven." (Luke 18:16)
In traveling we often meet with people of different nationalities
and languages. We also come across various incidents, some sorrowful,
and others joyful. I recently witnessed one of the most joyful
incidents while traveling on the railroad.
The train was going west, and it was evening. At a station a little
girl about eight years old came aboard, carrying a little purse under
her arm. She came into my car and quickly took a seat. She then began
to study each face, but all were strange to her. She appeared weary,
and using her purse for a pillow, she laid down on the seat to try to
get a little sleep.
Soon the conductor came along collecting tickets and fare.
Observing him, she asked him if she could lie there. The gentlemanly
conductor replied that she could, and then kindly asked for her ticket.
She informed him that she didn't have one, and then I overheard the
following conversation.
Said the conductor: "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to heaven," she answered.
"Who's paying your fare?" he asked.
She said, "Mister, does this railroad lead to heaven, and does Jesus
travel on it?"
"I don't think so," he answered. "Why did you think that?"
"Why, sir, before my mommy died she used to sing to me about a
heavenly railroad, and you looked so nice and kind that I thought this
was the railroad. My mommy used to sing about Jesus on the heavenly
railroad, and that He paid the fare for everybody, and that the train
stopped at every station to take people on board. My mom doesn't sing
to me anymore. Nobody sings to me now, and I thought I'd take the train
and go see my mommy. Mister, do you sing to your little girl about the
railroad that goes to heaven? You have a little girl, don't you?"
With tears in his eyes, he replied, "No, my dear, I have no little
girl now. I had one once, but she died some time ago and went to
heaven."
Did she go over this railroad, and are you going to see her now?"
she asked.
By this time every person in the coach was upon their feet, and most
of them were weeping. An attempt to describe what I witnessed is almost
impossible. Some said, "God bless this little girl."
Overhearing someone say that she was an angel, the little girl
earnestly replied, "Yes, my mommy used to say that I would be an angel
some day."
Addressing herself once more to the conductor, she asked him, "Do
you love Jesus? I do, and if you love Him, He will let you ride to
heaven on His railroad. I'm going there, and I wish you would go with
me. I know Jesus will let me into heaven when I get there, and He will
let you in too, and everybody that will ride on His railroad - yes, all
these people. Wouldn't you like to see heaven, and Jesus, and your
little girl?"
These words, so pathetically and innocently uttered, brought a great
gush of tears from all eyes, but most profusely from those of the
conductor. Some who were already traveling on the heavenly railroad
shouted aloud for joy.
She now asked the conductor, "Mister, may I lie here until we get to
heaven?"
"Yes, dear, yes," he answered.
"Will you wake me up when we get there so that I can see my mommy,
and your little girl, and Jesus?" she asked. "I so much want to see
them all."
His answer came in broken phrases, but in words very tenderly
spoken, "Yes, dear angel, yes. God bless you." "Amen!" was sobbed by
more than a score of voices.
Turning her eyes once more upon the conductor, she questioned him
again, "What should I tell your little girl when I see her? Should I
tell her that I saw her daddy on Jesus' railroad? Should I?"
This brought a fresh flood of tears from all present, and the
conductor knelt by her side and, embracing her, wept the reply he could
not utter. At this point the brakeman called out the name of another
station. The conductor got up and asked the brakeman to take care of
his duty for him at that station, for he was busy.
That was a precious place. I thank God that I was a witness to this
scene, and I was sorry that at that point I was obliged to leave the
train.
THE SEQUEL (A letter from the conductor to Pastor Dosh)
Dear Pastor Dosh,
I wish to unburden my heart by writing to you and saying that that
angel visit on the train was a blessing to me, although I didn't
realize it in its fullness until some hours later. But blessed be the
Redeemer, I know now that I am His and He is mine. I no longer wonder
why Christians are happy. Oh, my joy, my joy!
The instrument of my salvation has gone to be with God. I wanted to
adopt her in the place of my little daughter, who is now in heaven, and
with this intention I took her back to her hometown, where she left the
train.
When I talked with my wife about adopting her, she replied, "Yes,
certainly, and immediately too, for there is a Divine providence in
this. Oh, "she said, "I could never refuse to take under my charge the
instrument of my husband's salvation."
When I returned to the town where I had left the little girl, I
asked about her and learned that in just three days after her return
she died suddenly, without any apparent disease, and her happy soul had
gone to dwell with her mother, my little girl, and the angels in heaven.
I was sorry to hear of her death, but my sorrow is turned to joy
when I think that my daughter in heaven received word from earth
concerning her daddy, and that he is on the heavenly railway. Oh! sir,
I think I see my little girl near the Redeemer. I think I hear her
sing, "I'm safe at home, and daddy and mommy are coming." I find myself
sending back the reply, "Yes, my darling, we are coming and will soon
be there." Oh, my dear sir, I am so glad that I know you! May the
blessing of the great God rest upon you. Please write to me, and be
assured I would be most happy to meet you again.
We learn many things from this incident. "From the mouth of infants
and nursing babes Thou has established strength ..." (Psalm 8:2) Not
only should we never be afraid to speak out for Jesus, no matter where
we are, but we should never give up praying for the salvation of those
we love. The conductor's wife was obviously a godly woman who must have
been praying for her husband's salvation. It looks like God honored her
prayers with a visit from this "little angel" who came in love,
boldness, and with a word from the Lord about the conductor's daughter.
The right word at the right time is a mighty tool in the hand of God.