A GENTLEMAN while spending a Sunday in one of the New England villages became acquainted with a poor orphan. The child told the gentleman what kind friends he had found, giving him a home, good food and clothing, and showing him much affection; in fact, everything was done for him that kindness could do, and yet all this did not drive away the gloom that hung over him. He was so sad, a smile was seldom seen on his face, and rarely, if ever, could he be persuaded to go and play like other children. Everything about him showed there was something that weighed upon his heart heavily. All his relations were dead; he alone was left to weep for them. The gentleman determined to have a private talk with the boy, and seek to lead him to the one who said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” During the afternoon the gentleman noticed our orphan boy going slowly towards the cemetery where his parents were laid.
He went after him and putting a kindly hand on his shoulder, said very tenderly, “John, is it true you have no father?”
“No, sir, I have none.”
“No mother, either?”
“Nor sister, nor brothers,” and he sobbed so, his voice was hardly audible.
“John, has no one told you that God is a Father to the fatherless, and that Jesus is the friend of the heavy laden?”
John knew something about these things, for his tender mother had taught him some verses from the Bible when he was very young, but he did not answer.
“John, do you think anyone down here needs God for a Father, and Jesus for a friend more than you?”
“No sir, no one needs Him more than I do.”
“And have you never asked God to be your Father?”
“I pray every morning,” said the boy, “but I don’t think I pray right.”
His voice trembled, his eyes turned towards his new friend with a look of anguish, as much as to say, what can I do? His friend invited him to come to his room, and in a few words told him of the promises in the Bible, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” He told him that God never turned a repent” ant sinner away. The boy listened with deep attention, and said, “O! sir, do you think I could be saved?”
“Certainly I do, for God has said, ‘now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation,’” and opening his Bible at Isaiah 55, he read those precious words, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” “Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good. And let your soul delight itself in fatness.”
As soon as he heard these words, his eyes brightened with hope, and he said, “Sir do you think these promises were written for me?”
“Surely they are, my friend; they are for all those who are thirsty and need the water of life.” They knelt together, and his friend asked God very earnestly to reveal Himself to this poor child; to show him the path of life; to lead him to the source of living waters, and when he had finished, the poor child, from the anguish of his heart, burst out with the publican’s prayer, “O! God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Thus did this generous man take John by the hand, poor orphan that he was, sad and lonely, and lead him to the fountain of life. He who alone can heal the broken-hearted. From that time on, John was another boy; he was calm, and happy. Before this, his spirit was like a landscape where the clouds were so dense that all the beauty was obscured, and now the rays from the sun of righteousness chased all the clouds away—all was clear and bright, and grace and peace, shone out, so all could see the change. He was no longer alone, for the one who has said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,” was by his side.
And now, dear children, will you not accept Jesus too? Then you, too, will be happy; you, too, will have one with you if trouble should come, as it did to John.
God’s word says, “Incline your ear and come unto Me, hear and your soul shall live.” Isaiah 55:3.
ML 11/28/1909