ONE day in a fine big mansion many years ago a wealthy man sat with his little daughter six years old. Little Alberta was her father’s joy, and he loved to listen to her childish prattle. Looking up into his face, she asked, “Daddy, do you know anything whiter than snow?”
Her father was astonished at her strange question, and replied, “No, my dear, there is nothing whiter than snow.”
“Oh, but there is, Daddy.”
“What is it then?” he asked.
“A heart washed in the blood of Jesus is whiter than snow, Daddy,” she promptly replied.
Her father was almost struck dumb with surprise. He was terribly annoyed at the strange words of his own child, for he was a man of the world, with no desire for the things of God, nor did he wish them instilled into the mind of his little daughter. “Who taught you to say that?” he asked.
Innocently, the child replied, “Nurse.”
Her father rang the bell hastily and Alberta’s nurse was ordered to come at once.
Alberta’s old nurse was a devoted Christian and a faithful servant. When questioned, she had to confess that she had sought to teach little Alberta the value of the precious blood of Jesus and its power to cleanse a sinful heart from every stain, leaving it whiter than snow.
The angry father ordered her to leave at once. Some time later, a prince paid a visit to the wealthy man’s mansion. The royal visitor was greatly attached to little Alberta, and one day toward the close of his visit he was with her father in his study when the little girl came ruing in. In her innocent childish simplicity she asked, “Prince, do you know anything whiter than snow?”
The prince smiled and said, “No, dear, I never heard of anything whiter than snow. Have you?”
“Oh yes,” said the little girl with delight; “a heart washed from sin in the blood of Jesus is whiter than snow.”
There was perfect silence; neither the prince nor the father could answer a word; but that simple testimony went like an arrow to the father’s conscience. And what was the result? As far as the prince is concerned, we cannot tell; he showed no sign of impatience or opposition to the word of the heaven-taught child, and this was such a contrast to the spirit of the wealthy father that he felt thoroughly ashamed as he remembered his anger. He was awakened and convinced of his sinful heart. This led him to search the Scriptures for himself, where he learned how true were the words spoken by his little daughter. The time came when he turned to the Lord in true repentance and came to know the value of the blood of Jesus; for “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
The old Christian nurse was sent for and reinstated in the home. In perfect liberty she could now teach little Alberta the precious things of God and to guide her feet in the way of peace.
How true and beautiful are those words, “Whiter than snow,” true of every sinner who has trusted in the atoning blood of Jesus.
ML-10/25/1964