I WISH to tell you, young readers, the story of an occurrence which took place on Sheriff-Muir in Scotland. I don't intend to give you an account of that great battle which was fought there nearly two hundred years ago, which has made the moor famous, and when nearly one thousand men were killed ; you will no doubt learn all about that when you read your history books. That was an event in which some thousands of persons were concerned; what I have to tell you about was an event in the life of one person, which occurred about twenty-five years ago.
Robert was a Scotch laddie of a lively, energetic disposition. He was about fourteen years old, and like most lads, aye and lasses too, was self-willed and fond of having his own way. Whether he wore a kilt and a plaid, as some Scotch laddies do, I do not know, I forgot to ask him. He once had to walk from Stirling to another place, I believe over twenty miles away, and to do this he had to cross Sheriff-Muir, which you will find marked, if you look at your map of Scotland, in the southeast corner of Perthshire. It was winter time, and a deal of snow was on the ground, deep drifts being in some places. He was told to keep to the bottom well-beaten road for greater safety, but instead of doing so he took a pathway higher up on the hill-side. He thought he would be all right, and perhaps anticipated some little adventure. How easy it is for boys and girls to turn out of the right pathway, and do what they are told not to do. “Children, obey your parents," says the Word of God. Can you find that text in your Testament?
Well, when Robert had gone some distance along this forbidden pathway, he suddenly, without any warning, fell right into a thick snowdrift. He had got off the path without knowing it, a blinding snow-shower having come on. Do not you think he would wish he had kept to the proper road, as he was told at the first? There he was all alone, far away from any habitation, no one near to hear his cry for help. He struggled in the drift, and tried to fight his way out of it, but could not do so. He did not despair, however, but tried and tried again to regain the pathway, yet all his efforts to extricate himself were in vain.
But what was that which startled him so? The bark of a dog close to, yet above him. He heard the dog barking, though he could not see it; but soon a big, brawny Scotch-man appeared, and called out, “Who is there?”
Robert answered, “Me—a boy."
The man then got near to him, and, reaching out his long shepherd's crook, with some little effort pulled young Robert out of his bed of snow, and, without asking him a single question, lifted him up on to his shoulder, like the good shepherd did the poor, lost sheep in the fifteenth chapter of Luke, and carried him right away to his shepherd's hut. There this good Scotch shepherd placed him before the bright, warm fire, gave him some hot milk to drink, and oatcake to eat, and Robert soon recovered from the effects of his dangerous adventure in the snow. After a good rest, and under the shepherd's guidance, he set off again on his journey—this time on the right road—and at last arrived safely at his destination.
Robert is now a man with boys of his own—he is saved, too, and sometimes preaches the gospel—but he has never forgotten his fall into the snowdrift on that old battlefield, and his deliverance from it by the good, kind-hearted Scotch shepherd.
Now, what does the story of this Scotch laddie remind you of, dear children? When I first heard it I thought Robert in the snowdrift was just like what we all are as sinners in God's sight. You know what that is, do not you? Lost and unable to save ourselves, for we are all lost, and in danger of perishing. But Jesus came to die for sinners, that we might have life in Him, and be made fit to be with Him in heavenly glory. Do you love Jesus? Has He saved you?
If you get your Bible, and find the tenth chapter of the gospel by the Apostle Luke, you can there read the story of the good Samaritan, who, when he found the poor man that had been nearly killed by the robbers on the roadside, attended to his needs, and helped him to a place where he would be cared for, just like the kind-hearted Scotch shepherd did to Robert.
Do you see, dear children, that you need salvation, and that God loves you, and that Jesus died to save you? I hope you will all learn to love and trust in Jesus, who loves you so much, and that you will be able to say that the Lord Jesus has washed all your sins away in His own precious blood.
H. W. P.