One day James came to the dinner table and found something on his plate that he did not want to eat. He just shut his teeth together and would not even taste it.
His mother was very sorry to see her little boy act that way. And she felt that she must insist on his eating a little of it before he had his pie which he wanted so very much. But James turned away and then began to cry, but that did not help. Someone said to him,
“James, do you know that the trouble is all with your will? If you would just say, ‘I will do what Mother wants me to,’ you would be happy, but you are crying because you want your own way.”
We are all like James and like to have our own way, but it will only make us miserable and unhappy. James gave in at last, and had a good dinner, and then he went to his play a happy little boy. The Bible tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way.” Isaiah 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6). But it tells us too of another way which leads to joy and happiness. That is God’s way. How to be really happy is to give up going our own way, and to trust the Lord Jesus.
Which way are you traveling, little ones? Are you still going your own way, or have you started to tread God’s way that leads to heaven?
ML 02/26/1939