Neglect Not the One Thing Needful

A selection from a letter by Rev. J. H. Thornwell to his son, Gillespie, fifteen years of age at the time. He longed for the salvation of his children and often addressed his desire when writing to them. This letter was written August 4, 1859.

My cup of earthly happiness would be full, if you, and Jimmie, and Charlie, were only true Christians. You would then be safe for time and for eternity. Depend upon it, my dear son, you will never repent of it, if you should now give your heart unto the Lord. Let me beg you to seek, this summer, the salvation of your soul. You will have time to think, and read, and pray. Write to me that you are not neglecting the one thing needful…

The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell, by B. H. Palmer, first published in 1875, republished by the Banner of Truth, 1974, p. 442.

I Tremble Yet Rejoice

A portion of a letter by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, written to his parents after getting settled in school at Newmarket. He hadn’t been long converted and was joyous of knowing Christ but struggled spiritually because he didn’t want to bring disgrace on his Saviour. He was not yet 16 years old when he wrote this letter, January 30, 1850.

How sweet is prayer! I would be always engaged in it. How beautiful is the Bible! I never loved it so before; it seems to me as necessary food. I feel that I have not one particle of spiritual life in me but what the Spirit placed there. I feel that I cannot live if He depart; I tremble and fear lest I should grieve Him. I dread lest sloth or pride should overcome me, and I should dishonour the gospel by neglect of prayer, or the Scriptures, or by sinning against God. Truly, that will be a happy place where we shall get rid of sin and this depraved corrupt nature. When I look at the horrible pit and the hole from which I have been digged, I tremble lest I should fall into it, and yet rejoice that I am on the King’s highway.

The Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, collected and collated by his son, Charles Spurgeon, first published in 1923, p. 13, now available electronically by Logos Research Systems, Inc.