Would you like, dear children, to hear about a dear little girl with whom I traveled awhile ago in the train?
As she was going alone on her journey, she had been given into the care of the conductor, and he kept her ticket for her. Someone had given her a few letter blocks with which she could spell words, to amuse herself. We were not very far on our way when I noticed that she had put an E, a D, an N, and an A together, and I daresay if you had been there you would have guessed, as I did, that Edna was my little companion’s name.
After some time I asked her if she could spell me a very beautiful name beginning with a J. She spelt “Julia,” but that was not the name I meant: so I asked her if she could spell a very wonderful and beautiful name, a name which was only borne by one, who once lived on this earth. Ah, then she knew what name I wanted, and with a bright look and ready fingers she spelt “Jesus” for me.
After a little while I asked for another name. What do you think it was? I said, “Can you spell the name of any one whom Jesus loves?”
I watched her little fingers as she put the letters together, until I saw that she had spelt—what name do you think? Why “Edna” to be sure. So then I knew that this little girl had learned something of the love of the Lord Jesus, and the thought made me happy.
When I asked her how she knew that He loved us, she spelled her answer in these words,
“He died for us.”
This was a right answer, was it not, dear children? But it was a solemn answer too. That the Lord Jesus, the Son of God should die for us shows indeed how He loved us; but it also shows how terrible our sins are, that He should need thus to suffer.
We reached our destination soon afterwards, and the conductor came to find his little charge, I trust by and by, I shall meet dear little Edna in the presence of the Lord, in that place which He has gone to prepare for His own. Will you also be there, dear children?
ML 03/08/1936