A LITTLE boy of five years, with a number of others about the same age, followed a funeral to the cemetery outside the town of B—, one Saturday afternoon. The other boys, after playing about the road for some time, returned to their homes, but this little fellow would go farther for a walk; and so, getting separated from the rest, he lost his way. Walking on and on, he told those who spoke to him that he was going home; but on he went, farther and farther from it. Swinging up behind the carts returning from the market, the miles were quickly passed, and night came on; but still farther and farther he was going from home, for he was on the wrong road, his back was turned towards the town, and every step he took increased the distance from it; at the same time he thought that he was on the right way, and that soon he would be at home again. It had now become dark. Wet and cold, and clinging to the back of a wagon, he got sleepy, and dropped off as the wagon turned down a lane. The man in the wagon had taken no notice of the child behind, till the little fellow began to cry after he had fallen; and even then the man went on his way, unheeding the cries of the child. The little fellow, however, continued to cry, and this so impressed the ear of a farmer, that he sent his servant to see after him, and the servant returned with the child, who was made comfortable for the night.
What a lesson, dear boys and girls there is for you in this little story! What a true picture of what you are in the sight of God —lost, and on the wrong road, too; and every day that you continue to live and walk on this wrong road, you are getting farther and farther away from heaven, and nearer and nearer to hell! You are lost and gone astray, just as the Lord Jesus tells of the sheep in Luke 15.
Now, I want to tell you that during all that wet Saturday night, the father of that little boy, with two friends, traveled from house to house, waking up the people as they went past their dwellings, to inquire after the lost child. With what anxiety and earnestness that father went on and on, still unwearied in search of the lost one. He would not give up till forced to do so. Being wet through, he returned to town without him, but soon set off again in another direction. The boy’s mother also set off in the morning to look for her son. How anxious must she have been all that long night, fearing, probably, that her child had fallen into some ditch by the wayside, and been drowned.
O! what a faint illustration all this is of the activity of the blessed God in seeking the lost sinner. Do you know what He has done? He sent His own Son into this dark and sinful world because He loved the world. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” and the blessed Lord Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” He never tires, and is still by His Spirit seeking, following night and day.
But perhaps you may think as this child thought; I am on the right road, for I try all I can to do good, and pray, and read the Bible, and surely I shall reach heaven in the end. No, my dear child, this is being on the wrong road; for God’s Word says, that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one”; and if you read the third chapter of Romans, you will see that you are lost, and need One to save you. Such a Saviour is Jesus.
Well, I must tell you that the little boy’s mother met a car coming into town. She stopped it to inquire after her son; and the little fellow shouted out, “Here am I, ma! Here am I, ma!” He was wrapped up in a rug in the car. So the lost one was found, and there was joy. So there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God if you repent. (Luke 15:7, 107I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)
10Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (Luke 15:10).)
ML 07/02/1916