FREDDY went for a three months’ holiday to his aunt’s pretty country house, which was surrounded by pretty green, fields. A charming stream of clear water in which there were lots of fine spotted trout, flowed through the grounds, and Freddy’s, delight was to stand on the wooden bridge watching the trout leaping in the sunshine.
But what I want specially to tell you about Freddy is, that he was a converted boy, and he was not as some little boys known to me are, ashamed to confess Christ as his Saviour. His aunt was very kind, and so were his cousins; but there was no daily reading of God’s Word or prayer in their home, and Freddy was much surprised at this. On the first Lord’s day morning that Freddy was at his aunt’s, she asked him to have a walk with her by the riverside; but when she asked if he would like to look for nests among the shrubbery, the little fellow replied, “Not on the Lord’s day, auntie.”
At breakfast there was no thanksgiving before food, but Freddy bowed his head and gave thanks. There was no evening prayer, but the clear boy bent his knees by his bedside before lying down. All this began to have a wonderful effect in that worldly home, and I believe was used of God to show his aunt and her household, that there was a reality in Christianity to which they were strangers.
An incident happened one day which gave the dear boy’s testimony favor in the eyes of the whole household. Playing in the meadow with his little cousins one bright day, Ins aunt being only a few yards off, Cissy, a little girl of five years, fell into the water. The current was pretty strong, and she was quickly borne along. Freddy heard the cry and ran to the water edge. There he saw Cissy being carried down by the current. Quick as thought, the brave boy ran to the wooden bridge, lay down flat on the spars, and stretching down his right hand caught Cissy’s dress as she passed. He was unable to pull her up, but a loud cry brought her mother to his aid, and in a few minutes Cissy was drawn out of the water. Freddy was kissed all round that night. When he was saying goodnight to his aunt, he whispered, “Jesus helped me to save Cissy, I cried to Him to do it.”
That word was never forgotten. No doubt it was true, and it proved the reality of his simple trust in Christ. Years have passed, and Freddy is no longer a little boy. In one of the busy cities he carries on a large business, and his delight is still to speak well of Jesus who saved him in his early days, His aunt and her household are all saved and on the way to glory, and she gladly acknowledges that Freddy’s clear testimony to the Lord Jesus first turned her thoughts Christward.
How grand it is to be saved in early days, and to be the means of pointing others to the Saviour.
ML-09/15/1935