“Hello, Clara! Are you going to Sunday school?”
“No, not today,” the girl answered, running past quickly. Her friend looked after her in surprise, unable to account for Clara’s conduct.
In the meantime, Clara soon left the village behind, and was hurrying along the road which led to the pretty seaside town of Resthaven, “I know Dad and Mom would be cross, but they need never know. Besides, many go hiking on Sunday, why shouldn’t I?”
For all her brave words, Clara was a bit disappointed. Poor girl, she did not realize that in running away from her duty in this way, she was really trying to forget God. But she soon found she could not hide from Him, for her conscience was awake and this was making her unhappy. When she can in sight of the sea, and turned to follow the crowd on the front, she had no pleasure in her outing. Suddenly she heard the words of a hymn from an open-air meeting which was being held down on the sands:
“Whither shall I flee for refuge,
Hiding when storms are near?
Where find a place of safety,
Dwelling without a fear?
Jesus alone can save me,
All of my joys increase;
From every storm He’ll shield me,
Giving my soul sweet peace.”
Clara stood until the hymn was finished, and then she turned to retrace her steps homeward. Even as she did so the words of Psalm 139:77Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (Psalm 139:7) came to her mind: “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy Presence?”
It was a truly repentant little girl, who sobbed out her confession in her mother’s arms that evening. But the tears which they mingled were not altogether of sorrow, but rather of a great, heartfelt joy, for Clara had learned her lesson, and on the sands at Resthaven she had given herself to the Lord Jesus, who alone can save. Clara had tried to take a holiday away from God, but now she had come home.
If you do not want to be saved, dear young friend, then you, too, are really running away from God. You are lost, and on the way to an eternity without the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. He came to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)), and that He might give you everlasting life through faith in His precious blood. How wise it is then, to accept Him as our Saviour, for “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3).
ML 01/08/1961