ONE night when father and mother were sound asleep, one of the little girls sleeping in the next room became frightened and cried aloud.
Mother had been very tired and was sleeping so very soundly. She did not hear the cry of the child, but the father, who could not sleep, heard it, and quietly crept out of bed, and went to the child and laid down beside her and quieted and comforted her, and he too fell off to sleep. You know if our earthly father will come to us in the night when we are frightened and afraid, so also will our Heavenly Father, when He hears our cry.
Well, pretty soon mother awakened a bit, and reached out her arm, and did not find her husband. Just waking out of her sleep it seemed so strange to her that she was startled. The first thought that came into her mind was, “The Lord has come and taken my husband and I am left.”
You see she did not till then believe in the coming of our Lord, but this half dream and half fright, thoroughly aroused her.
She cried, “Arthur, Arthur, where are you? where are you?”
Her cry awakened her husband, Arthur, and he came to her. “I was so frightened, I thought the Lord had come, and you were taken to be with Him, and I was left, and how terrible that would be!” said she.
And it would be, wouldn’t it children? Can you imagine such a thing?
There was a mother who came to Ellis Island as an immigrant, and had eight children with her, and in her excitement, she went away and left one of them, and what a time they had with her till they found the one that was left behind. You wouldn’t want to be the one left behind, would you? Nor did the mother I am telling you about.
Now, children, Jesus is coming back some day, really coming back. There are some who laugh at those who believe He is coming, but that does not change the truth in the least. He is coming. We don’t know when, but we are told to be ready.
Would it not be an awful thing to be left behind like the mother thought she was? The best thing is to be ready. See if you can’t find a place in the Bible where it tells you to be ready. Look up the place and then again find the place where it tells us, “and the door was shut.” I could tell you, but then you would not have anything to do, and I want you to search the Bible for yourselves. Please do this; mother or auntie, will help you.
ML 07/20/1924