Little Alfred was having a lot of fun playing with his toy animals. His mother had given them to him for his birthday, and he enjoyed setting them all in order and moving them around. Like many children, especially boys, when he grew tired of his playthings, he would pull them to pieces to see how they were made. This time his mother had told him that if he began to destroy his animals, she would take them all away from him. Alfred was trying to take extra good care of them.
Whether by accident or mischief, something happened that made him suddenly quiet, and his mother looked across the room. There were tears in Alfred’s eyes as he held up his horse with the head in one hand and the body in tire other.
Mother loved her little boy very much, and she didn’t want to punish him, but as she had given her word, she had to take all the animals away from him, while he slowly walked out of the room. Then his mother sat and wondered if she couldn’t forgive him. just this once, though she was always very careful to keep her word.
Just, then she felt his little hands touching her dress, for he had crept back into the room. With a wistful look in his large eyes he said,
“Mother, I am so sorry I broke my horse!”
“Well, my boy, I will forgive you but you must try to be careful.”
“Mother, has God touched your heart? I have been out and asked Him on the stairs to touch your heart, and to let you be willing to give me my toys again.”
“Yes, dear, God has heard. your little prayer. Go and play with your toys again.”
Alfred was only five years old, but he knew to whom he should go in his trouble, and God listened to his prayer.
Dear children, God is watching you as you read this paper. And He loves you more than Alfred’s mother loved her boy. Have you ever sinned against God? You know you have, and God has seen it too. But God wants to forgive you, and He punished His own Son, the Lord Jesus, so that He might be able to say, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.
Have you ever come to God, as Alfred did to his mother, and told Him that you were a sinner? If you do that now, He will wash away, not one sin, but ALL your sins, through the blood of the Lord Jesus.
ML 02/12/1950