“No, indeed,” said one of the children; “he was a thief.”
“Yes,” replied Mary Jay; “so that you see the right answer is not that we must be good in order to go to heaven; we must be——what?”
Mary Jay paused, and looked all about the room, waiting for an answer.
“We must be——what?——forgiven. That’s it—Forgiven. Not good, but forgiven, for being bad. That’s the distinction.
“Do not think, however, children, that I am excusing you from being good. We ought to be good all the time. We ought to obey all God’s commands, and do all our duty. But, then, we must not expect to depend on this as the means of going to heaven. It is forgiveness for our sins that we need. Therefore, children, remember, if you want to be happy when you die, you must confess your sins to God, and ask him to forgive you now. This is my last advice to you. Ask God to forgive you for every sin. Whenever you do wrong, as soon as possible ask God to forgive you, and every night, when you go to bed, confess all your sins, and pray to God to forgive you. That is the way to prepare yourselves to go to heaven. And remember that there never was a person good enough to go to heaven without forgiveness, nor bad enough to be shut out with it.”
Mary Jay made some further explanations, and then she gave them another verse to sing. After they had sung the verse, she read another prayer out of her book; and this was the closing exercise of the school. Then the children put on their bonnets and caps, and all went away.
Mary Jay and the two girls then set out together to walk along towards home.
They went on slowly, and talking by the way, for some time. They did not go back the way they came, for there was some difficulty in getting over the fences; and now the sun was down so far that the road was pretty cool and shady. They saw little groups of Mary Jay’s scholars walking along the road, at different distances before them. These children, however, gradually disappeared. Some turned off into other roads; some went into farm-houses; and pretty soon all had gone but two, who were standing at a little gate which led to a small white house, a little way back from the road, and at a short distance before Mary Jay and the two girls who were with her. When they came up to the place where the two scholars were standing, they spoke to Mary Jay, and told her that their mother wanted to have her come in a minute as she was going by.
Mary Jay said that she would; and she asked Lucy and Marielle to go in with her. But they declined. Marielle said that she and Lucy would walk along very slowly. So Mary Jay went in, and Marielle and Lucy walked on a few steps, and then sat down to wait for her.
After about five minutes, they saw Mary Jay coming out with something in her hand. Lucy wondered what it could be. When Mary Jay came along to where Lucy was, she and Marielle rose, and went forward to meet her, and asked what it was.