“Quite right, dear; but now tell me what you mean when you say, ‘for Jesus Christ’s sake.’”
“Please, teacher, because Jesus came down from heaven to die for our sins; and if our sins are forgiven for His sake, and our naughty hearts changed by His Holy Spirit, we shall go to heaven when we die.”
“That’s right, dear; it is only because of our Saviour Christ’s great love in leaving His home above, and coming down to our earth to live and die for us, that we can have any sure and certain hope of ever reaching heaven. You know the little verse which says—
‘And this, not for any good thing we have done,
But all for the sake of His well-beloved Son.’
And now tell me if Jesus is willing to receive little children into His beautiful home.”
Several hands were held out, and almost with one voice the children answered: “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Susan then told the children to turn to their Bibles; and, after reading with them the parable of the lost sheep, she told them as simply as possible, how Jesus is the Good Shepherd who goes out after the lost sheep, and never rests until He has found them; how by the “lost sheep” are meant those who have not known His love in dying for them; how tenderly He loves little children, and longs for them to come into His fold. She explained to them how weak and unable to protect themselves the sheep are; and just so, how feeble and helpless we all are in ourselves, and what need we have to be led and kept day by day in the right way. She spoke to them of the tender love of the Good Shepherd for every one, even the least and feeblest of His lambs; of their great enemy, the devil, from whom He died to deliver them: how He knows each little one by name, keeps His eye always upon them, watches over them by night and by day, goes after them when they wander from Him, and brings them back to His fold; and, at length, when life is over, receives them into His own gloriously bright and holy kingdom above.
The children all listened quietly and attentively; and amongst the little eyes fixed on the kind young teacher, none seemed more riveted than the poor little stranger-children, by whom alone of all the class the sweet story of old—the story which is ever new—was heard for the first time.
When school was over, the children stood up and sang together the sweet hymn, which followed so well on the subject of the lesson: