Bishop Ryle tells a story about an Englishman travelling in America. [3] He meets an Indian who talks with great enthusiasm about Jesus Christ…
“The Englishmen is rather reserved, as they tend to be, and he says to his new friend, “You are always talking about Jesus Christ. Why do you make such a big deal of Him?”
The Indian knelt down and gathered some leaves, some twigs and some moss, and placed them in a circle on the ground. He picked up a live worm and put it in the middle of the circle. Then he lit the leaves.
As the flames rose, the worm began to move, but every way it moved, it got nearer to the flame, and so after a few moments, the worm curled up in the middle and prepared to die.
The Indian reached his hand into the flame, picked up the worm, and held it next to his heart. Then he said, “I was the worm—helpless, hopeless and on the brink of an eternal fire. Jesus Christ stretched out His hand. He saved me from the fire, and took me into the heart of his love. That is why I make much of Him.”
[3] By J. C. Ryle, “Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots,” p. 245, Moody Publishers, 2010
http://www.amazon.com/Holiness-Abridged-Hindrances-Difficulties-Classics/dp/0802454550/
