The lighthouse sends its bright beams across the waves; sailors miles out to sea can see its light and are warned not to come too near to the rocks that line the coast or that lie hidden beneath the water. Jean, the lighthouse keeper’s daughter, had lost her mother several years before; she lived alone with her father in a lighthouse built on a huge rock that jutted out from the shore. One day her father had to go on shore on business, so he left Jean to take charge of the lighthouse until he returned. “I’ll be sure to be back before it gets dark,” he promised her.
Away he went, and as the hours passed, Jean sat in the great lonely lighthouse all by herself. Then a storm came up; the wind began to blow, and the roar of the waves sounded in her ears as they dashed against the rocks; the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed. Dark clouds scudded across the sky, and night came on faster than usual; but still her father had not returned.
Jean was frightened in the midst of the great storm, but she had a Friend, One who was above all the storm and who takes care of those who trust in Him. Jean began to think of the sailors who sailed in the ships that night, but there was no-one to light the great lamps. What could she do? After sitting there for some time alone, she went and found a long candle which her father used for lighting the lamps. Away she went up the winding staircase, around and around—200 stone steps she had to climb—but at last she reached the top. But, alas, poor little girl! She was too small to reach the lamps, even with this long candle in her hand, standing on tiptoe and holding it as high as she could. The lamps were still out of her reach. What was she to do now?
All the way down the steps she went again, and took the great family Bible in her arms. Back up she climbed again, carrying the big Bible. When she reached the top she was very tired, but putting the Bible gently down on the floor, she stood on top of it, and with the long lighted candle in her hand she tried again to reach the lamp. This time she could reach it, and the next moment out shone one bright light after another, until all the lamps were shining over the dark stormy sea. With feelings of thankfulness, Jean descended the stone stairway to wait for her father’s return.
It so happened that her father had fallen into the hands of wicked men called wreckers-pirates or plunders, who watch for wrecked ships and go on board and carry off anything of value. A band of these men had seen the lighthouse keeper that afternoon coming from the town and they said to each other: “Let’s take him and tie him up in a cave. He won’t be able to light the lamp, and maybe there’ll be a shipwreck, so we can go aboard and help ourselves.” So they caught the lighthouse keeper and imprisoned him on the rocks, intending to keep him there all night. Their evil plans seemed to be working out well, when all of a sudden the beams of the lighthouse shone out along the rocky shore! Though full of rage and disappointment, the men realized that their scheme had failed. Knowing they could accomplish nothing by holding their prisoner any longer, they cut the rope that bound him and set him free. When the lighthouse keeper finally reached his home, he found his little daughter sound asleep in a big chair in front of the fire, for Jean had determined not to go to bed till her father came home. She woke to find her father’s arms around her and a loving kiss pressed on her forehead.
“My little girl,” he said, “not only have you saved your father, but you have perhaps saved many lives aboard the ships that saw the light on the shore.”
The Lord Jesus came into this world as the true Light, and how brightly that Light shone in the darkness of this world. He said, “I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:1212Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12). But “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil,” and they sought to put out that light. They put that blessed One to death upon a cross of shame. But God raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heaven. Now He shines forth as the Saviour of sinners, and all who put their trust in Him and own Him as their Saviour and Lord, have that light, by the Spirit of God shining in their hearts.
One day, God is going to judge wicked sinners who rejected Him on earth, and who now refuse that Light from heaven which comes to us in the gospel of His grace.
Oh, that you, dear young reader, may be among those who have accepted Him, and rejoice in that light which shines along the Christian pathway to that bright home in heaven.
“The god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4: 4, 6.
ML 10/29/1967