How nice for these two children coming to the brook, to find that someone else has been before them, and left stepping-stones for little feet that are not able to step over the water, and must not step in it! I suppose the person who put them there had to get his own feet wetted; but this he did not mind, if he could so make a way for the little ones, or others, to go over with dry feet. And now see how easy it is for them to step from stone to stone, and save their dear mother the vexation of finding them with wetted shoes and socks and feet. They could not put these nice large stones themselves; the bigger girl, I suppose, could hardly lift one of them; but, now they are there, even the little one can step on them all. I hope they do not skip over them and quite forget the kindness that placed them there, very likely before they were born.
Now, my dear little ones, I want you to think, for a moment or two, of another picture; one drawn by the Lord Jesus Himself, when He was a man down here in this world. It is a very solemn one, but it is as truthful as it is solemn; for Jesus is “the Truth,” and He never said a word to make anything appear worse or better than it really is. Well, in the sixteenth chapter of Luke, He speaks to us of a poor man, who was very miserable and in terrible pain, who wanted to get away from where he was; to cross over into a very different place, and to very different company, froth those in which he found himself. But he could not: he was told that “a great gulf” was “fixed” between him and them, and there were no “stepping-stones” across. He had in his life been very rich, and Lazarus very poor, but now Lazarus is comforted and he is tormented. How very sad to think of a man being shut up in hell, wanting to come out, but cannot; and crying in vain for Lazarus to come with one drop of water to cool his burning tongue! What a difference between a little brook, and nice large stepping-stones across it, and a great gulf with no stepping-stones—no bridge—no way of passing it at all!
Dear little readers, do you wonder why I write to you about such a solemn subject? It is because I love you, and earnestly desire that you may be happy with Jesus forever; and I know that you have a great enemy, whose name is Satan, who wants to keep you away from Jesus; to fill your hearts and minds with something else, like he did the poor rich man I have spoken to you of. He filled his mind with thoughts about his riches, his fine clothing, and his fine eating every day; and the foolish man forgot all about another world, or would not think of it, until he found himself in it, and then he sadly wanted to change. But it was “too late” then, and he must remain forever away from that blessed God, whom in his life he had despised and forgotten.
But, if there is no way out of the place of torment for those who are in it, there is, through God’s grace, a way to escape being there. And although there is indeed no way to heaven from where the rich man is, there is a way from where you are. Do you ask, and really desire to know, what is that way? It is Jesus, the blessed Saviour of lost sinners. Not many “stepping-stones,” but one gracious and glorious Person, who loves you, and died for you (2 Cor. 5:1515And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (2 Corinthians 5:15)). The way from the condition of being lost to that of being saved is not step by step; works and prayers, and so on; but by simple trust, as a lost sinner, in the Lord Jesus. Then, when you believe His love to you, and rest in the value of His precious blood, as having cleansed you from all sin—then you will repent, as you never can before. You will say, “How very naughty I have been! how very sadly I have grieved, by my sin and folly, the dear Lord, who has never ceased to watch over me for good!” And then indeed you will pray as you never have before. You will feel you must tell Him all that is in your heart, and ask Him to help and bless you every day; you cannot do without Him, and do not want to try. But be sure you don’t try to make “stepping-stones” of your prayers, or your goodness, or anything at all about yourself, as if they brought you nearer to God. They are bad stepping-stones, and will let you sink; but Jesus never will, if you confess your sins to Him, and put your trust in Him only.
Never forget what He said in John 14:6,6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) “I am the Way ... no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” As these two children in the picture did not make their own way over the stream, but walked on stones that had been put there by someone else, so you and I have not to make a way, or find a way to God and heaven, but to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who is “the Way;” whom God gave that we might through Him be saved from our sins, and from the punishment our sins deserved. Neither the wisest, nor the strongest, nor the holiest man could ever have found a way to be saved if God Himself had not provided one; but now that He has done so, it is open and free for the greatest sinner, or the feeblest little child. Saul of Tarsus, when he was “the chief of sinners,” was quite welcome; and so was the dying thief, who had just been mocking Jesus; so also has been every poor sinner who desired salvation, and so will you be, too, dear little reader.
Sept. 25, 1872.
W. T.