HOW needful it is for every little boy and girl to learn this verse, and to remember it too. It is a very sad thing when a little child gets into the habit of telling what is not true. If you fall into this sin while you are young it grows on you, and it will not be long before no one will trust you, and what is worse than this you will have God’s displeasure resting upon you. We are told in Prov. 12:22,22Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight. (Proverbs 12:22) that “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord.”
If I were to take out my watch to find what time it is, it would be of little use for me to look at it unless I know that it keeps good time, would it? If I know that sometimes it stands still for an hour or two a day, and then goes on again; if it loses two or three hours a day, or gains that much, I cannot depend on it, can I? Then a watch that cannot be depended upon is of very little use. It may have a fine gold case and have many precious jewels in it, but it is of no use as a watch if it does not tell the truth as to the time. A little girl or boy who is not truthful cannot be trusted. It is the work of Satan to tempt little ones to tell lies, and if you yield to his temptation you become his servant to do his wicked work, and could there be a greater disgrace than this? You can never tell where a lie will end, or the amount of harm it will do. If you were up on a high mountain and saw a man take a large stone and roll it down the side of the mountain, you would not be able to tell when it would stop rolling, or the amount of harm it would do. And so it is with a lie, you will never be able to tell when it will stop, or how many will be injured by it. Your little sister or brother might follow your example and be injured for life through it, and become very untruthful. And how sad it would be if you were the means of leading another to do that which is so displeasing to the Lord.
I once heard of one who said that telling a lie is like letting a wild beast out of a cage. You could never tell how many people that animal would kill or hurt before it was caught again. Nor can we tell the harm one lie will do. It was through a lie that Satan succeeded in causing our first parents in Eden to lose their happy place there. It was through a lie that Ananias and Sapphira, spoken of in Acts 5 were struck dead.
Suppose I have a watch that has never told me the wrong time, one that does not lose or gain one minute in the day, I can depend on it, can’t I? And if little boys or girls are truthful they are like that watch, they can be depended on. Always tell the truth, dear children, no matter what it costs you, and you will have the joy of pleasing the Lord.
May the words at the head of this be the prayer of your hearts as long as you live.
ML 08/17/1902