THE
INVALID IN A COUNTRY COTTAGE.
One fine summer evening I
paid a visit to a certain country cottage, and there saw a poor sick girl
recovering from her illness. But I am going to tell you about a few things I
noticed as I sat in the cheery living room of that nice little home.
First let me say that this
cottage is not very attractive outside. It is not the kind of cottage that
artists love to paint, with a thatched roof, or picturesque gables and
timber-work, surrounded by a shady, old – fashioned garden. The cottage I am
writing about is of plain red brick, and the garden, though quite tidy, can
hardly be called pretty. It was the
inside, not the outside of the cottage, that interested me.
In 1 Samuel 16: 7, we read, “Man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” God does not look to see if we have pretty
faces or fine clothes, but He looks into our hearts and longs to see there what
is “pleasing in His sight.”
There were four things
specially attractive in that cottage living room, and I think they will speak
to us of some things that should be in the heart of every boy and girl who
wants to shine for Jesus and attract others to Him. Let us make these things all begin with a capital C, then they
will be easy to remember.
“Now
none but Christ can satisfy,
None
other name for me;
There’s
love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord
Jesus, found in Thee.”
4, A Calendar was hanging in the
cottage, and on the date-block were these beautiful words: ”Fear not:….be
glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things” ( Joel 2:21)). For
every day of the present year let us make the Bible our daily guide, and be
like the Psalmist who said; ”Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might
not sin against Thee” (Psalm.119:11)
God will indeed do great things for us and through us if we yield our hearts to Him. Cleansed by “the precious Blood,” filled with love and with the Holy Spirit’s power, finding full satisfaction in Christ, by lip and life we shall witness for our Master. Boys and girls who read these lines, may this be your happy experience. Then will you, and many others, through your influence, be able to say, “The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad” (Psalm. 126:3).