“Papa, you love us very much; don’t you want us to have easy, pleasant times?” Grace asked on one of these occasions.
“I do love you all very dearly, and I am afraid that would be what I should choose for you if the choice were left to me,” he answered; “but it is not mine, and I rejoice that it is not; for God, our Heavenly Father, in whose hand are all these things, loves you far better than I do, and is infinite in wisdom; he will choose for you and never make a mistake.”
“It makes me glad to think of that, papa,” she sighed, creeping closer into his embrace, for she was leaning against his couch, with his arm round her; “for I am not very strong, you know, and when I hear about having to run a race and fight a battle, it seems as if I could never do it; but Jesus will help me to do both, won’t he, papa?”
“He will, dear child. He says: ‘In me is thine help.’ ‘Happy art thou, oh, Israel: who is like unto thee, oh, people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency?’
“‘Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.’”
“Does every body have to run a race and fight a battle to get to heaven, papa?” queried Lulu.
“Yes, my child; there is no escaping it: we belong to a fallen race, and are all born into the world with a sinful nature that must be got rid of before we can enter heaven. We would not be happy in that holy place with that evil nature, even could we gain admittance there uncleansed from it. We have that to struggle against, and put away, with the help of God, and by the application of the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin. And we have the snares of the world to avoid, and a warfare to wage with many spiritual foes, malignantly intent upon our ruin.”
“It’s just dreadful, papa!” said Lulu. “I don’t see how any body ever gets saved.”
“By trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is mightier than all our foes, able to save to the uttermost, and who died to redeem us.”
“What does that word redeem mean, papa?”