Be a hope divine and real.
Dr. Hanna once said: "The heart is an interpreter. It is not in the intellect, it is in the conscience, in the heart, that the finest, most powerful organs of spiritual vision lie. There are seals that cover up many passages and pages of the Bible which no light or fire of genius can dissolve; there are hidden riches here that no labor of mere learned research can get at and spread forth. But those seals melt like the snow-wreath beneath the warm breathings of desire and prayer, and those riches drop spontaneously into the bosom of the humble and the contrite, the poor and the needy."
The great President Edwards, in his admirable work on the affections, declares that that religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak and lifeless inclinations raised but a little above a state of indifference. God, in His word, insists upon it, that we should be in earnest, fervent in spirit, and having our hearts vigorously engaged in religion. "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him; and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul." "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Deut. xxx. 6.
The primary object of the successful worker then is to reach the hearts of the parents through the children, constantly remembering the divinely inspired words, "that a little child shall lead them." Let the following extracts from her pen speak for themselves:
"During the last month I have made two hundred and five visits, and brought eight children to the Sunday-school. I often find if we can gain the affection of the children it opens a way to the parent's hearts. For example: On entering a room one day, I asked if they had a Bible. The father, a rough-looking man, said, 'We have no money to buy Bibles—we need all our money to get something to eat.' 'Oh,' said I, 'if you have not the means to buy one I will give you one for nothing.' 'If I get it for nothing, I will thank you for it.' I took him one the next day; he thanked me very politely, and said, 'I will read it.' I handed the little girl a tract, in which was a picture of a child kneeling in prayer. The father seemed pleased, and before leaving, I said to the child, 'Now, my dear, if you learn to do as that little girl does, God will love you.' She looked up and said, 'Yes, ma'am.' When I called a few days after, the father said, 'My little girl did not forget her promise to you. Every night and morning she kneels down and prays, and thinks we should all do the same. I have been reading in the Bible. It tells us a great many good things, and when I get some clothes I shall try and come to church.'"
We must form our opinion of aggressive work for Christ by the fruits that are produced. The pictorial tract put into the hands of the little girl, and her subsequent conduct, elicited the attention of that rough-looking father, and oh, what a blessed testimony to the power of divine grace in the parental statement, "Every night and morning she kneels down and prays, and thinks we should all do the same." It is evident that children feel the full force of the words of the apostle:
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living; way, which he hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and having a high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
"In another place," she writes, "where I visit, the father keeps a dining saloon, and sells liquor. His daughter is in our Sunday-school, and he always appears glad when I call. 'You are the only one,' he says, 'who comes to do me good; I hope you will be blessed in your work; go up-stairs and see my daughter. She is a lady,' he added, 'although brought up in this way.' I generally read and pray with her, and as I left her the last time, she said, 'I hope I shall not always have to live in this way.' Her father was at the door as I came down-stairs; he met me, saying, 'May the Lord bless you. Come as often as you can; I would like to live a different life!' The daughter is pleasing, and mourns still for her mother, who died three years since."