IN a chalet on one of the mountains in Switzerland there once lived a poor man, whose wife had died, leaving two little children to his care. He was a very kind father, and his daily trouble was that he was obliged to leave his little ones alone when he went to his work, as he was too poor to pay anyone to look after them during his absence. The neighbors would sometimes think of them, but not often, so the children would wander for hours over the mountain side, gathering the lovely flowers which grew there, forgotten by everyone except the father.
One evening, on his way home, the father noticed the clouds looking very black, and gathering very fast, and he thought to himself, “This is one of our sudden snowstorms coming. I wonder where my children are; has anyone thought of them? Are they sheltered from this storm? Oh, my dear little ones, how I wish I was with you!”
With an anxious and beating heart he hastened homeward as fast as the storm would let him, for the snow began to fall in such large flakes that he could scarcely see his way up the mountain.
He at length reached his home, and on opening the door of his chalet, all was silent; there were no glad voices to welcome him. “Oh! my children, where are you?” exclaimed the poor father; “I will seek you until I find you.”
Onward and upward he went, calling them by name, but there was no reply to his call. He inquired of the neighbors if they could tell him where they were, but no one could help him in his great sorrow. The father, however, could not give up his children, so onward he went, while his heart was yearning over his lost treasures, now dearer than ever to him.
And did he find them? Yes; but where do you think they were? Safely sheltered in a cleft of a great rock, and fast asleep, with their little arms around each other.
The children had wandered far from their home―they had seen the storm coming, and had found a safe shelter.
And now let me ask any child who is reading this simple and true incident whether he is sheltered in Christ, the “Rock of Ages,” the only Shelter, the only true Refuge for every poor, lost sinner? Will you, my child, be less wise than these children were?
They knew, young as they were, that nothing short of a shelter in the rock could save them from the storm, so they found a small cave, into which they fled and were safe. Have you fled for refuge to Christ, the Rock of Ages? In Him you are safe forever.