In my hand I hold a little runnway. He has had a fall and has run away from his owner. He is lost and does not know it. But his owner knows it and wants him back again.
Is he not like to us? We have all fallen—fallen, into sin one way or another. We are all alike in that. We have not all sinned in the same way, but we have all sinned in some way. We have turned our backs upon God and run away from Him. He is good and we are evil and because of our evil we have tried to get away from God. Of course we cannot really do it, but we have tried to do it.
I remember that when I was a little boy, I used to go into a dark china closet where the best tea-things were kept, and, shutting the door, would say to myself, “God cannot see me here.”
But darkness and light are both alike to Him. He saw me there. He sees everywhere.
Then, upon the wall of one of the rooms of my home, there used to hang a text of four words only, printed on a china plate; and I used to dislike that plate and wished it would tumble down and get broken.
Why was that? The plate was all right, and the words upon the plate were all right. The person who first used them was so glad because of the truth of them. What then was wrong? The wrong was with me. I was a sinner and a runaway from God. The words on the palate were
“THOU GOD SEEST ME.”
I knew that I was unfit for His holy eyes to look upon, and I wished that the words were not true. But they were true, and they are true today. He sees every one of us, just as we now are. We. cannot hide from Him. Blessed it is to know that He not only sees us, but loves us too.
The owner has lost the little runaway in my hand and is sorry to have lost it. And God has lost us. He made us that we might be happy in His presence, and He wants us to be before Him, knowing Him and serving Him with gladness. So it was the Lord Jesus, the Son of Man, who came to save that which was lost. And He died for the lost, that they might be saved, and to bring them to God. He once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, so that we might be blessed now and forever.
As the little runaway was running away from its owner, I saw it and stopped it. And well it is when the sinner running away from God, is stopped in his foolish course.
Then I stooped and picked it up and put it safely in my hand. And the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, stooped from His eternal throne, and became a man in order that He might pick us up. And now He holds everyone who trusts Him in His mighty hand, and not one of then shall ever perish. None can pluck us away from Christ, if we do, in our hearts, believe on Him. He values us too much to allow us to be lost, And He has right to keep us, for He has bought us with His precious blood.
Now I want to buy this little runaway so that I may keep it. Have you guessed what it is?
No! Well, I will tell you. It is a penny. It fell from its owner’s hand, and ran along the floor and came near me, and I stopped it as it was passing by.
“Who has lost a penny?”
“O! yes! I thought it was you. Now I will give you two pennies instead of it may I?”
“Yes! please pass them to that little girl then.”
So the little runaway was found, you see.
Have you been found vet? Has the Lord Jesus picked you up? Trust Him to be your Saviour today. Then,
“When Jesus has found you,
Tell others the story,
That my loving Saviour
Is your Saviour too:
Then pray that your Saviour
May lead them to glory,
And prayer shall he answered,
‘Twas answered for you.”
He picks us up to make us His very own, so that we may be joyful before Him, and useful in serving Him. Then when He comes for His own, He will take us to be with Himself forever. What a wonderful Saviour He is, and with what a wonderful salvation He saves us.
ML 10/22/1939