It was late autumn in New Brunswick, and three little children had gone for a walk along the beach — Mary, the eldest, only six, and her little brother and sister, Johnny and Beth.
The sun had already gone down in the West and, as the shadows of evening began to steal across land and sea, the little ones hastened their steps toward home. But night came on fast, and feeling sure they could not make it home in the darkness, Mary decided to make a little nest of seaweed for the tired little travelers and spend the night there.
Mary gathered seaweed which she stowed away in a sheltered nook in some rocks and so made a bed for her little brother and sister. Fearing the cold of the night might be too much for them she took off most of her own clothing and covered over her little charges. She then went off to gather more seaweed to lay on top of them. After considerable effort in this way, the poor little girl fell down with cold and exhaustion.
Meanwhile at home their father and mother waited wondering where their dear children were. At length they roused their neighbors and search parties went out to look for the missing ones. All night they searched without success. Then in the early morning light in the sheltered nook, they found little Johnny and Beth, numbed with cold, but otherwise all right. Not far away, however, was the cold, lifeless form of their little saviour. Mary had sacrificed her life to save her little brother and sister from certain death.
Does not this recall the love of the Lord Jesus to our hearts? Mary had given her all to save those she loved so dearly. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:1313Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13). But the Lord Jesus went far beyond this, for He laid down His life for us when we were His enemies.
He loved the ones for whom He died—
Not ours to question why;
But ours to know the love of Him,
Who came to die!
His is the loving voice we hear
That leads us to the sky.
We bless Thee, Lord, who came to earth
For us to die!
ML-06/27/1976