“Everybody who loves Jesus. If you love him he wi’ take you right there when you die. Why dinna you love him, Frankie?”
“I do want to,” was the earnest answer, “but I don’t know how. I don’t believe I love him, or I wouldn’t be so naughty.”
“The minister at the kirk wi’ tell you a’ about it, an’ your Bible an’ your mither, an’ if you pray, God wi’ help you.”
“I will try, Aleck. I’ll ask mamma about it, and I’ll listen to everything Mr. Price says, and I’ll pray too.”
Frankie was very much in earnest, and, after he was dressed, he knelt by the bedside and prayed that God would help him to be good and to love Jesus. On the way to church he talked with his mother, and she tried to lead him to the Good Shepherd. Mr. Price’s sermon was written for the lambs of the flock, and was full of encouragement to the little ones to “come to Jesus.” Frankie listened with earnest attention to that “sweet story of old, when Jesus was here among men;” his eyes filled with tears, and his heart throbbed at the story of the cruel death on the cross; and when, in conclusion, Mr. Price spoke of the tender love that the Saviour had for little children, and entreated them to give their hearts to him and love him in return, he whispered softly, “I will try to love Jesus.”
Frankie was not the only one of the children whose heart had been touched, as the next hour spent in the Sabbath School testified. The teachers sought to deepen the impression, and the Holy Spirit so wrought upon their young hearts that many went home rejoicing in a Saviour’s love.
That Sabbath was a happy day in Frankie’s home. Mrs. Western’s heart was full of a mother’s joy over her child, and Aleck shared in her happiness; as for Frankie, although he could comprehend but little, he knew that Jesus loved him, had died for him, and that he wanted the love and service of just such little children. He was but a child, and would often err, but the hand in which his was clasped was the same strong hand which upholds the best and wisest of us all.
