John Bunyan, the Swearer

By Harold Smith

My story for you today is about a man called John Bunyan. Did you ever swear? Did you ever take the Lord's name in vain? Well John Bunyan, he made his living mending pots and pans. He lived many years ago. He wasn't a Christian. And he was a very wild, reckless young man. One day he was standing in front of a store window and he was swearing, as usual. The woman who kept the store, she wasn't a very good woman herself. But she came out and she scolded him. And she said, "John, you ought to be ashamed, you're a poor example to the young people, swearing like that". John tried very hard to give up his swearing. After a few weeks he found he could talk a little better without swearing so much. He began to read the Bible, and soon he started to get a good opinion of himself. He tried to keep the Ten Commandments, but quite often he'd break them and he'd have to tell God that he was sorry, and he'd begin all over again. He wasn't getting too far, because he'd always end up doing the same thing again. One day as he sat in the doorway mending some pots, he overheard two women coming along the street. To his surprise, they seemed quite sure that they were saved, and they talked about the work of the Lord Jesus and receiving forgiveness of sins through Him. So he got acquainted with these two people. And they spoke to him about the joy and the peace in knowing the Lord Jesus. Later on, John went back over and over again, and talked with those people. And soon, the time came when John himself did find that wonderful joy and peace in believing in the Lord Jesus, who finished the work on Calvary's cross. The end of his trying had come. The day of his trusting had started. There's a lot of difference between trying to be saved like John did, and trusting the Lord Jesus to be saved. Have you trusted in the Lord Jesus? This is the man that wrote the book, "Pilgrim's Progress" over 300 years ago. It is still read by many thousands of people around the world. John Bunyan had to come to that place where he realized he was a sinner, and trust the Lord Jesus. Have you come to that yet? I hope you'll come to it and trust the Savior right now.