Here’s a story that plays off my previous post about the original Sunday Schools. In one of Scotland’s manufacturing towns, a young lady applied to the superintendent of a Sunday School and asked for a class. He advised her to get a group of poor boys together and bring them to his house. When they arrived, he would give each of them a new suit of clothes. The young lady agreed, and each boy was fitted out nicely.

The worst behaving of the boys was a kid named Bob. He showed up for only the first couple of Sundays and then dropped out altogether. To her credit, the young woman went and found him, but by then his new clothes were torn and dirty. Nevertheless, she invited him back to Sunday School and he came. The superintendent even gave him a new suit of clothes.

Unfortunately, history repeated itself when, after a couple of Sundays, Bob dropped out again. In her persistence, however, the young teacher went and found him again. Of course, by then he had ruined that second suit of clothes.

Thoroughly frustrated, the teacher went to her superintendent and told him that, regretfully, she was giving up on Bob. In reply, the superintendent said, “Please don’t do that. I’m still hoping there is something good in the boy. Try him once more. I’ll even give him a third suit if he’ll promise to attend Sunday School regularly.”

Well, Bob did promise, and he did receive that third suit. What’s more, this time Bob attended faithfully and eventually accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. He joined the church, was made a teacher, and studied for the ministry. In the end, troubled little Bob went on to become Robert Morrison, the missionary to China who translated the Bible into the Chinese language.

Tell me, do you have a “Bob” in your life? Do you have someone you’ve been trying to help but their response has you completely frustrated and discouraged? Try them again. Sometimes a third suit is the one that makes the difference.