Part 9. Storks.
IF you look on those pretty bright fans, or on Japanese tea-cups, you will see pictures of such funny birds! Birds with stiff legs, and long solemn beaks, so proud and learned that they seem as if they ought to be wearing spectacles and reading the newspaper.
What are they? Why, they are storks! Storks live in several different countries, in Holland, people think that if a stork will come and build its nest on their chimney, it is a sign of good luck. But I think we shall take a peep at Japan, the country where the picture fans are made.
If you look on the fan or tea-cup, you will see, besides the storks, little black-haired ladies, and men in long coats like dressing gowns. But when we reach Japan we find that most of the men dress just like men in America, there are trains and street cars and fine streets and buildings just the same as at home.
The Japanese are all so clever! Their country is governed very well, and they have a splendid army, and schools and universities. Then they can do things so beautifully. They carve wood and ivory, and do beautiful embroidery so quickly and so well. And they make the nicest toys of almost any country in the world. But clever heads can’t make clear hearts, you know. God has said that even the best things we can do are just like “filthy rags,” and they are not of any use, are they? Only the Lord Jesus can wash sinful hearts clean, so the clever Japanese are just as far away as the stupid Eskimos or negroes. But I am glad to say the love of Jesus is burning brightly in many Japanese hearts, and they tell others about the dear Lord who has done so much for them.
There are many Christian schools in Japan, where little clever heads are filled with all sorts of lessons, and, best of all, little dark hearts are made white in the blood of our own dear Saviour. Japanese children like doing lessons better than anything else. Think of that! You would be quite frightened at their alphabet. It has hundreds of letters instead of 26, and they are such hard letters to write and read.
All the Japanese are very polite. They bow almost to the ground when they meet a friend. Once I learnt a poem about the Japanese children that began—
“The little children in Japan are fearfully polite,
They always thank their bread and milk before they take a bite,
And say, ‘You make us most content,
O! honorable nourishment’.”
But one thing I want you to remember about Japanese children, and that is, that they always do what their mothers and fathers tell them. Even when a Japanese is a grown-up man, he honors and respects his father, and does what he tells him. What did the Lord God tell the Israelites? He said, “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land.” Though the poor Japs have no Bible, they are fulfilling God’s command, and so God fulfills His promise: the Japanese live to be very old. But, dear children, we have another reason for doing this. The apostle Paul, when he was writing a letter to some people in Colosse, sent a special message to the children, and that was: “Children obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord.” Just think! You can do something which will please God very much.
Some people say Japan is an “upside down country,” for they do things so differently from other people. For instance, the parcels you get at the stores are wrapped up in cotton cloth, but pocket-handkerchiefs are made of paper! Then cabbages, ugly, fat, old cabbages, are grown in pots, and beautiful lilies are grown in fields, so that they may eat the roots, like we eat onions. It is a funny country, is it not?
Now, little people, we have finished our journeys together to all these homes of different animals. We have seen these people who are so unhappy, because they do not know about the Saviour. Now, there are two things that I want you to remember.
First—I want you to help those children and grown-up people in other lands, in the very best way possible, and that is by praying for them. Every night when you kneel down, you can talk to Jesus about these poor people of His. You can ask Him to save them, and teach them, and to bless His servants, wherever they may be teaching. Jesus loves the prayers of little children, and He always answers them, so you won’t forget this best way of helping, will you?
Second—And most important of all, I want you to think to yourself now, “When the Lord Jesus comes back to this world for all who believe in Him, will He come for me?” When you go to bed tonight, say to yourself, “Supposing the Lord Jesus comes before tomorrow will He take me with Him to heaven?” How happy you will be, if you can say, “Yes, I know He will take me, because my sins are all washed away in His own blood.” But if you cannot say “yes,” do not put it off, and say, “I expect it will be all right.” It will not be all right, unless Jesus is your Saviour. Come to Him now, for He has said: “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out,” and “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.”
ML 07/02/1916