I SHOULD like to tell you about a very little boy named Andrew. He is only three years old, but the Lord Jesus is a real person to him; and this surely shows that God has been dealing with this young heart. One day he went in company with his grandmother to a bookseller, where the precious truth of God is kept for those who are willing to read it; and the kind person whose store it is, gave the child some little books. He was much pleased with the gift, but held down his head, and was too much abashed, even though asked by his grandmother, to thank the giver for the books.
When they left the store to go home, his grandmother spoke to him kindly about his behavior to the gentleman, and asked him if it was not naughty to act so. His little heart swelled with sorrow, and tremblingly he said, “Pray to God.” So when they reached home, she knelt down with the child, and asked God to give him grace to go and thank the gentleman; and that he might remember the Lord Jesus at all times, so that he might do what is right for His sake.
When they rose from their knees, she said to the child, “Now Andrew, are you ready to go back and thank this kind man for giving you the books?” “Yes, grandmother,” he answered, with a bright smile; and he went at once, and did it cheerfully.
You see that it was not his own disposition, but the grace of God, which made him do this; not Andrew, but Christ. And on this same Lord Jesus you may rest, dear child, and take to Him all your naughtiness. It is a bad thing to do wrong; but it is worse to keep from Him, who only can restore us, and enable us to do that which is pleasing in His sight.
At another time, some rooms were being papered in Andrew’s home, and he saw the paper-hanger stripping the old paper off the walls, before putting on the new; and this much interested the child. So he thought that he would do the like thing himself, and not noticing that it was only the old paper which the man pulled off, he set about pulling off the new; and of course had to be spoken to about it, and that more than once. He promised that he would not do it anymore, but one morning, soon after, he was doing it again. Poor child! he forgot his promise, which you will say, was not worth much.
Suddenly he stopped, and going aside and bowing his head, he said, “O Jesus, please do not let Andrew tear the paper anymore.” Then he went away from the wall, and never touched it again. Ah! the blessed Lord Jesus is the strong One for us. What is to be observed in these simple stories is that even a child can look to the Lord for help, and receive it. How precious it is to find a child doing this!
ML 10/09/1904