Rosie was a clever girl, but she had a cross temper and many naughty ways. Had the truth been told she would never have received one of those presents which aunties used to bring, marked “For a Good Girl.” Without being extremely bad, still she was a sinner; for “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23. But do not think that you are any better than she was. Next to a doll—the delight of every girl’s heart—her favorite pleasure was to draw. She would spend hours sketching houses, men and women, cats, motor cars, and other things on blackboard, slate, paper, or any conceivable thing.
A visitor at the house one day observed Rosie disobey her mother, and full of frowns instead of smiles. Wondering how she could reach her conscience, she thought of her artistic efforts. When they were quite alone they had a talk about the Lord Jesus; how good He was when He was a little child on earth; how He grew up to be a man, and was kind to everyone, though people were wicked and cruel to Him; how He let men nail His hands and feet to the dreadful Cross of wood; how He hung there, and did not say an angry word, but prayed to His Father for His murderers; how He rose up from the dead, came out of the grave, and went back to heaven, where He still intercedes for His people who live in this wicked world.
Little Rosie liked very much to hear about the “holy child Jesus,” and she said: “Do you think Jesus can make me a good girl?”
“Yes,” said her friend, “I am sure He can, and He will do so if you trust Him.”
Then came the use of a simple event which had happened only a few evenings before. Rosie could not work out an arithmetic problem on her blackboard, but got the figures all wrong. Mother finding it all wrong crossed it out with many crosses. Such a looking slate made the little girl cry. What was to be done? “Oh, Mother, do rub it out, take the sponge and clean it off.” This done, Rosie dried her tears, and exclaimed, “Now, Mother, you cannot see it, I cannot see it, and no one can see it.” Then the visitor explained that her heart and life were all wrong, but that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1: 7), and that if she would just own up she was a sinner and let the Lord Jesus Christ save her, cleanse her, and keep her, all would be put right.
Kneeling down with the little girl the visitor asked the Lord to make the way of salvation simple and plain to her little friend. Then she asked Rosie to speak to the Lord, which she did in the following simple words,
“Dear Lord ‘Jesus, do cleanse my wicked heart, give me a new heart; let the blood You shed on the cross wash my sins away now. Amen.” Some time after this Rosie said, “I know all my sins are gone; Jesus did rub them all out. Now, He cannot see them, the angels cannot see them, I cannot see them, and no one will see them any more” (Isa. 38:17; Heb. 8:12). In all honesty of heart Rosie owned her lost condition, accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her own personal Saviour, and was saved.
ML 05/24/1959