He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother taught us to never accept pay for a kindness.”
He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”
As the little boy, Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was stronger also. Before that , he had been ready to give up and quit.
Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled as to the cause. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once and went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day, he gave special attention to the case.
After a long struggle, the medical battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
The woman feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay it off. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read the following words:
“Paid in full with one glass of milk.
Signed, Dr. Howard Kelly.”
Author Unknown
Although the lovely account has been embellished over the years, it is a true story! Dr. Howard Atwood Kelly (1858-1943) became a distinguished physician who was one of the four founding doctors of Johns Hopkins, the first medical research university in the U.S. and arguably one of the finest hospitals anywhere. In 1895 he established the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at that school. Over the course of his career, he advanced the sciences of gynecology and surgery, both as a teacher and as a practitioner. The actions of Dr. Kelley can remind us of that Jesus paid our debts in full.
Verse 1
I hear the Saviour say
Thy strength indeed is small.
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all.
CHORUS
Jesus paid it all.
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Verse 2
Lord now indeed I find
Thy power and thine alone
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone
REPEAT CHORUS
Verse 3
And when before the throne
I stand in him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat
REPEAT CHORUS
REFRAIN x4
Oh praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead.
REPEAT CHORUS