Old Jonathan

From: Messages of God's Love: 1943

All have been children. And all, when children, acted more or less as children do. Even the apostle Paul could say,

“When I was a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.” 1 Corinthians 13:11¹¹When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Corinthians 13:11).

And few there are, either of men or women, but can look back upon their youthful days, and over and above much that is worthy only of being forgotten, recollect with interest, if not advantage, many. events of their youth; treasuring in their memory many an incident worthy of remembrance, unimproved, perhaps, at the time, but the recollections bring much interest and instruction to them in later years.

It is so with myself. Years have rolled away, but incidents have not been forgotten. One and another connected with them have passed off the scene, but rembrance of them still lingers.

Jonathan is one of them. “Old Jonathan,” as we used to call him. I remember him as he stood with his high, shining forehead, wrinkled by time, and scantily covered over with white locks of hair, and back bent with age.

He had been a shoemaker in his young days, though at the time to which I am alluding he was a warehouseman in a large store.

Old Jonathan was one of those whose cheerfulness increased with his age, and whose pleasure it was to show kindness to all around him, and especially to young people, and I need hardly say that everybody loved him. The way to be loved is to love. The way to merit esteem is to be obliging, respectful, and cheerful; even as Solomon says,

“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.” Proverbs 18:24²⁴A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24).

And this applies to us all alike, whether children, youth or aged. Let us never forget this: Love is its own reward.

But, best of all, Old Jonathan was a Christian. You know what a Christian is—one who believes in Jesus, and knows the value of His atoning blood. One who loves Jesus, not only for what He has done, but for what He is,

“The chiefest among ten thousand.” “He is altogether lovely.”

And being a Christian, the dear old man loved to talk of Jesus. We like to speak about those we love, don’t we? And the more we love them, the more will our hearts be full of their virtues, and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak.

It was also Old Jonathan’s duty in winter months to attend to the fires in difrent parts of the building, for the puose of warming different stores. I can picture him even now, running here and bustling there, in his anxiety to keep the fires burning brightly. Christians should always perform their work in a happy, cheerful spirit, “as to the Lord.”

One winter’s day another boy and myself had occasion to go to the warehouse, and near the fire there was an open loft. Hearing the well-known footsteps of Jonathan approaching, we hastily climbed into the loft for the purpose of having a little innocent fun with our aged friend. He came; and having attended to his fire, we were about to puzzle him with some strange noises, when to our surprise, he quietly knelt down where he was, and spent some time in evident, earnest prayer.

Do you think, dear young readers, that then was a time for play? O, no! There we remained, motionless and quiet, until Old Jonathan, having arisen from his knees, had gone to attend another fire at a distant room; when, as hastily descending as before we had ascended, we hurried off to our work.

Much as I respected Old Jonathan before, I did so much more after this. I had the assurance that he was sincere. No human eye, to his knowledge, saw him in that storeroom, and beside that cheerful fire, lowly upon his knees, pouring out his soul before God. It was not to be seen of men, though we, from our hiding place saw him. We could not hear all of his petitions, but He who never slumbers nor sleeps, both saw and heard.

Dear young reader, can you pray? Do you know a Father to whom to pray, and a Saviour who is “The Way” to that Father? In other words, do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ, and know Him as your Saviour? Unless you do, you can never pray; for, alas!

“How many say their prayers,

Who never, never pray!”

But Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and You believe in Him and love Him, He will teach you how to pray. He loves the prayers of children, as well as the praise of children. He was once a child Himself. And how many who have prayed to Him here below, are now in His presence above praising Him.

Remember, if you cannot pray to Him on earth, you can never praise Him in heaven. Prayer is the forerunner of praise.

“Behold he prayeth,” was once said of the apostle Paul; and now, if we could sec him, we would say, “Behold, he praiseth.”

May the former be said of every little reader of “Messages of the Love of God’: now, and then the latter will, by and by be true of them, also. And now, let me in love ask:

“Is there a little soul that pants,

To taste redeeming grace,

And longs to pour out all its wants,

Before a Saviour’s face?

Fear not, poor little trembling thing,

With cruel scorn to meet

To Christ your sins and sorrows bring

And lay them at His feet.

Think how He answered praying Paul,

And sinking Peter, too:

And so, if you on Him do call,

He’ll hear and answer you.”