LITTLE Bobbie had been lying on a small bed in the Children's Hospital for two years. The nurse said he had hip disease, and we soon saw that it was a hopeless case. No wonder that his face had grown, oh, so white and thin, and his eyes large and hollow, but the little hand that was lying outside the bedclothes, and looked hardly strong enough to lift a feather, was raised to shake hands with us. All the other children were having their tea, yet, though a large mug-full stood beside Bobbie's bed, he did not seem inclined to taste it, but lay with his eyes closed, and a peaceful look upon his little wan face.
“Well, Bobbie," said one who knew him well, "are you happy?”
“Yes," said the child.
“Loving Jesus?”
The thin lips parted this time with a smile, and the same answer.
“And are you happy to go to Him, Bobbie?" asked his friend.
We caught another faint “Yes," and bright smile before we turned away.
What! I thought to myself as we left the Hospital, can a little child of eight years old (for that was Bobbie's age) really be happy, lying there day after day, never seeing any birds, or trees, or flowers, and never able to run about like other boys? It seemed very strange, but when I thought of Bobbie's next answer I laid hold of his secret. He said he loved Jesus. Then it was that which made him so happy.
Have you ever driven on a cold winter's night through dark narrow lanes, with the wind blowing so hard in your face, that although the rain fell heavily, it was impossible to hold up an umbrella? But if you have had a very dear friend with you, who has talked pleasantly all the way, and tried to shelter you from the wet and cold, then you have not minded one bit. The journey has seemed so short that you were quite surprised when you reached home.
Well, this was how it was with Bobbie. There was One who more than eighteen hundred years ago, had given him a proof of His love-such as Bobbie could never forget. I need hardly tell any of you who it was. It was Jesus-yes, it was the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved little Bobbie with such a deep, such a wonderful love, that He left His beautiful home on high, where He was daily His Father's delight, and carne into this world, to endure the shameful death of the cross; if only by shedding His own precious Blood, He could bring any poor sinner to dwell with Him forever in His Father's house.
Oh! truly His "delights were with the sons of men," else how could He have endured those years of scorn and hatred? For how did they receive the Lord Jesus? Oh! do you not wonder that they did not all crowd to His feet, and own Him Son of God? But no! their hearts were so wicked and hard, and they did not like all their bad ways to be discovered so that in spite of all His love and grace, they took Him and crucified Him.
And so there was only one way left to cave poor miserable sinners from everlasting judgment and death (for God had tried many other ways, and the world had only got worse and worse), and that was for the Lord Jesus Himself to bear the judgment for our sins. And the bitterest part of all was, that God had to hide His face from Him; for He was a holy and righteous God, and could not bear sin, and nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ could put it away forever from His sight.
Oh! I am not surprised now that little Bobbie was happy; for his heart had been touched by the love of the Lord Jesus, and His love did not end at the cross, though that was the greatest proof of it. God raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His right hand crowned with glory and honor. And there in the glory this same Jesus is looking down upon all little children, and it is joy to His heart if even one-no matter how small and weak-will own himself a poor lost child, and by believing on Jesus Christ, “not perish, but have eternal life."And then He shows His love by caring for and sheltering them. You know He calls Himself “the good Shepherd," and it says, "He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom." Ah! I think little Bobbie knew what it was to be carried by the good Shepherd!
But there was something more too. What was it that cheered you on your cold drive that winter's night? Why, it was the thought of the happy home, and the warm fireside, where you could sit down at rest with your dear friend. So with Bobbie, he was happy in the thought of being forever with the Lord Jesus, free from pain and sickness; and now whenever his little pale face rises before me, I think with joy that he is folded in the arms of the good Shepherd.
But how would it be with you? If the Lord were to come to-day, should you be caught up rejoicing in the thought of seeing Him? Or are you still among the ones who scorn and reject His wondrous grace? Surely your heart is not too hand to be melted under the love of God? Can you set at naught any longer that perfect work at the cross, when His love to man was fully declared? If you do, you are in a sad case, for if you will not accept the way of escape which God has made, by believing on His Son Jesus Christ, you will have to bear the judgment for your sins. Is it so hard, then, to believe and to trust such a loving One?
I asked a little red-haired girl last week if she loved the Lord Jesus, and if He had put away her sins? She was working away very fast in a dressmaker's shop, and she worked all the faster when I spoke to her, as if she didn't want to answer; but at last she said, “Yes." But when I asked her why she loved Him, she said "that she had always been taught to!" How sad that answer made me! But it is just the way with some of you. Do you need to be taught to love your mother, or your brothers and sisters? If any one saved you from a horrible death, would not your heart swell with gratitude and love directly, and has not Jesus Christ died to save you from everlasting death, and yet you do not tare one bit?
Oh! I wish you were like another child that I heard a gentleman telling about the other day. She was at school and very unhappy indeed, because she had not peace with God-she was not trusting to the blood of Jesus. At last she told her trouble to her schoolmistress, who instead of pointing her to the Lord Jesus, gave her books to read, which made her only become more and more miserable. But one night, as she lay awake in her bed, too wretched to sleep, this verse carne to her mind, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "What," she thought,"is it possible that I have been trying all this time to love God, and it says He loves me?" And as she thought, her joy became so great, that she could not help shouting out, "GOD LOVES ME-GOD LOVES ME!" till the schoolmistress and all the girls carne running in to know what could be the matter.
And ever since that night she has found out more and more what "God is love" means; for "in this was manifested the love of God towards us, be-cause that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
Oh, can you not go on to the next verse and say from your heart, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins"? "We love him because he first loved us.”
“How great is the love
Which Jesus hath shown
He carne from above,
From heaven's bright throne.
That He might deliver
Poor sinners from hell,
And take them forever
In glory to dwell.”
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