Far from the smoke and grime of the city, with its tall chimneys, and constant whirl of machinery, we took our journey on a bright summer morning to the shores of Lake G. The sail down the river, along the coast, was very calm and full of interest. Then we took the steamer, and entering the calm waters of the lake, we sailed along by the finely-wooded shores, where we were to be for a month.
There were no lack of pleasures around the shores of. G. where we gathered wild flowers and played, the long summer day, watching the steamers as they came in and departed; the fishing boats with the fishermen bringing their baskets of shining fish; and the row boats bringing the people from various places to do their shopping, and return home with their purchases. It was a truly delightful holiday, and the days sped quickly by.
We missed our Sunday school as at home, but after the second Sunday of our stay, a pleasant surprise was sprung upon us. On the lovely Lord’s Day evening, as we walked out along one of the roads, we heard the sound of singing coming from some where near, and as we came along the shore, there came into view a large circle of children of various ages, seated on a grassy bank under the shadow of a long row of trees, singing the well-known hymn we often sing in our Sunday school.
“There is a happy land,
Not far away;
Where saints in glory stand,
Bright, bright as day.”
We joined in singing the hymn, an when it was finished, we learned that a band of young students, who were at the same place on their holidays, had been conducting services, specially for young people, on the shore, on Sunday evenings, and this was the last day for them.
After the hymn was sung, one of the students said, no doubt, some there would like to know the story of that hymn, and who its author was. His name was Andrew Young, while on a brief holiday, heard an Italian lady sing a sweet song of her native country. It began,
“I’ve come from a happy land, Where care is unknown.”
Mr. Young composed this hymn, that we know so well, and had it included in their Sunday School Hymn Book, and which was sung that Sunday evening on the shore, the first line of which is, “There is a happy land,”
It was that hymn that first turned my thoughts to the Saviour, when I was nine years old, and the G. shore will always be to me a happy memory, for there I made my choice for Christ, by whose death I am saved.
We wonder how many of our dear friends will be Forever in that Happy Home with the Lord Jesus Christ? We must first know Him here and now as our Saviour, that He bore the dreadful judgment of God which we deserved for our sins, shed His blood to wash them. away before God, that He died for our sins, and He is now in the glory, waiting for us to accept Him as our Saviour, and will, when He comes for His own dear ones, take us Home to Himself into His Happy Home. O, dear children, do not be left outside when He comes, and He may come today.
“Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour.”
ML 04/09/1944