THOSE of you who study Geography can quickly find Asia on your maps and in the southern part of Asia, a country called Persia.
Most of the people in that far away land do not know Jesus as their Saviour and many have never even heard of God’s blessed Son.
There are Christian missionaries there telling the people about God’s wonderful love and the way of salvation, but not enough to reach all the people,
Persia is not a Christian land and many of the people are very wicked and cruel, because they know nothing about God’s love. The children over there are not treated kindly as the little ones here in America. They are punished very severely when they do not have good lessons in school, or when they do any little thing to displease the teacher.
Even at home they do not know the comfort and happiness we have. Their parents are often unkind and cruel. The mothers instead of teaching the children to be good, teach them to do wrong and wicked things.
Once a little Persian boy stole an egg from a neighbor’s hen house and took it in to his mother. She did not punish him or even tell him he had done wrong, but told him to go and steal again. He went on stealing eggs and then began to steal other things. His mother taught him that it, was a brave, good thing to do. But you know, dear reader, that God says, “Thou shalt not steal,” and that it is very wrong to disobey God.
This boy grew up to be a wicked man and so great a thief that he was at last put in prison and sentenced to death. Just before the time for his execution he sent for his mother. When she came he told her he wanted to kiss her tongue and he bit off a piece of it. Then he said to her, “If you had told me, when I stole that first egg, that I was doing wrong, instead of telling me to steal again, I would not be here now.”
He was sorry for all his wickedness and was afterwards pardoned. He heard of the Lord Jesus and, believed on Him. Instead of stealing any more, he told others about God’s wonderful love.
As this man was forgiven when he repented, so God is waiting to forgive everyone who acknowledges himself a lost sinner in God’s sight, and his need of a Saviour.
Let us thank God, dear children, that we live in this free and enlightened country where all can hear about Jesus and the way of salvation—where we can tell others about Him without fear of being tortured or killed, and where the children are treated kindly and taught to do good and not bad.
ML 03/13/1904