THERE is a dear old lady, up in Canada, who is 87 years of age.
Although so many years have passed over her head, she can still see and hear quite well, and also get about. though somewhat crippled from a fall of years ago. But her memory is almost gone, except in the things that belonged to childhood’s days.
She thinks she is living with her mother in her old Cornish home. If asked where her mother is, she will, perhaps, say, “Oh, she’s gone out for a little visit, but she will soon be back.” If asked her mother’s age, she will thoughtfully reply that she forgets, and again she will say, “Oh, she’s young and sprightly!” Sometimes she takes her daughter, with whom she is living, to be her mother, and again she will say she is her granddaughter. When shown he daughter’s picture, which was taken when she was young, and asked who it was, she replied, “That’s me!”
When spoken to of the Saviour and His love, the dear old face will brighten with a sweet smile. She will say “He died to save me;” “He died that I might live;” “No friend like Jesus!” There is One she has not forgotten. Her sons may seem to her as brothers, and her daughters as her mother; but Jesus, her Saviour, is the unchanging One. She often repeats verses of Scripture, learned in the days of her youth; and she speaks often of “the death that will never die”—the portion of the wicked, which she, through grace, has escaped.
But had this dear old lady not learned of Jesus and His love in her early years what could she understand of it now? Nothing—nothing at all—for her mind seems almost a vacancy, except as to the past.
May this be to you an object lesson, dear children, in connection with the word God is speaking to you; “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” Eccles. 12:11Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
Now is the time to store your mind with precious truths from God’s word. Now is the time to give your heart to Jesus. A few years later may be too late; yes, tomorrow may be too late.
ML 10/19/1902