LITTLE Willie was very poor indeed. His feet and legs were red with cold, and he had no money to buy shoes or stockings, and the little fellow knew too well what it was to be hungry. Often he ran about the cold streets in winter, and slept in summer under the arches by the river.
After a time. Willie tried to earn a little money for himself by chopping wood, and got on fairly well. One day a lady met him in the street.
"My boy," said she, "would you like to come to Sunday-school? It is a nice warm place, with a large bright fire, and many children are taught to read there, and they learn of God who loves poor children."
In the Sunday-school Willie heard about the Lord Jesus and His love, and about boys and girls who love Him. He felt lie did not love Jesus, and the little boy began to cry with sorrow.
If you have been naughty, you are sorry, because you feel that you have not been kind to your father and mother. So it was with Willie. He felt that he had been a naughty boy, and had not been good towards God, and the thought of his sinful heart made him weep.
"Willie," said the lady who was teaching him, "would you like to be a Christian boy?"
He sobbed, "I am too poor to be a Christian, I am such a very poor little boy."
"But, Willie," said the lady, "Jesus welcomes the poor. He loves poor boys, and no one can be too poor to be a Christian. The Bible says, 'Blessed are the poor;' and, 'the poor have the gospel preached to them',—the glad news about salvation."
"Teacher," said Willie again, hanging his head. "I am too poor to be a Christian."
The lady tried to find out what it really was that Willie meant, and after a little persuasion, he said,
"You see, teacher, I can earn only fifty cents a week at chopping wood, and fifty cents a week won't pay for my bed and clothes and food; so sometimes, when no one is looking, I hide a piece of wood under my jacket, and sell it."
"Poor Willie," said the lady, "you must pray to God to take care of you, and to give you His grace. Ask Him to keep you from stealing, and to supply your need."
After trying to lead the little boy to the Lord Jesus Christ and His love, and to see the kindness of God to him, and showing him his need of trusting in God and confiding in Him, the lady said,
"If at any time you are very much in want, you may come to me, and I will try to do what I can to help you."
Willie went to work the next morning with the wish to keep from stealing. Chop, chop, chop, went his hatchet all day long, and at the end of the week his master gave him fifty cents. But the money did not buy all he wanted. Still he felt happier because he had not done that which he knew to be wrong.
The next week, Willie went on with his chopping wood. One evening the temptation came. It was getting dusk; he looked around on this side and on that side; no one was watching, and there was a nice piece of wood at his feet.
Under his tattered coat his little heart went pat, pat, and he felt very uncomfortable, just as everybody does when he is going to do something wrong. Then he looked at the wood again, and thought,
"O, it is such a pretty piece of wood, such a nice piece! I could just hide it under my coat and nobody would see me. It would sell for enough money to buy me a beautiful loaf of bread and other nice things."
Willie again looked around; still he saw no one watching him. He stretched out his hand to take the wood, when he thought he saw an Eye looking at him. He quickly pulled back his hand.
"No!" said he, "I won't take it; God is looking at me."
The temptation had passed; God gave Willie strength to resist it. Willie was all the happier for keeping from doing wrong, but he was none the less hungry, and was as poor as before. Yet the poor boy thought it was better to have a heart at ease, than to have enough to eat, and yet all the while to feel a weight of sorrow.
At the end of the week his master called Willie to him. I wonder if he feared lest he had been seen stretching out his hand towards the wood? But a kind voice gave him confidence.
"My boy," said his master, "I have watched you this week, and have noticed how much better you have behaved, and how much better you have attended to your work. I will give you a dollar instead of fifty cents, and may you always be a good boy."
Willie's heart went pit-pat, pit-pat again very fast, but not in the same way as when he was looking at the piece of wood. This time it was with joy and pleasure. He thanked his master very much, and ran off to the lady's house to tell her the good news.
God is the same to you, dear children, as He was to Willie; if we look to Him when we are tempted, He will give us strength to resist. We must ever remember that God's eye is upon us, and He watches what we do, and it grieves Him so much when we do wrong. Let us not forget,
Messages of God’s Love 12/26/1926