The very next morning she wended her way to the humble abode of her little friend. From quite a distance she saw his pale face at the window; and as she entered the room, the little fellow smiled so brightly at her, that she saw at once her visit was very welcome. On a little table, close by him, lay a Bible and a few other little books; and the rose-bush in the window sent a delicious perfume all over the room. Besides that, there were some small pieces of wood laying on the table, out of which the poor cripple—for a pass-time— whittled various little figures; and the finished articles hanging on the walls told of his industry. After the lady had examined everything with the greatest interest, she sat down opposite poor Jacob, and began talking with him. “Is not your life sometimes a burden to you, my little friend,” she asked; “do you never wish you could be delivered forever from your sufferings?”
“Now and then I do, Madam, for at times I have such terrible pains in my back, I can hardly bear them; and then I have to stay in bed and can’t either read or whittle; but even then I am not unhappy, for I am always thinking of the Lord Jesus, and of the glorious time I shall have with Him, and shall then have no more pains to torment me.”
“Have you then no fear of death, my dear young friend?” asked the lady, in astonishment. “Oh, no, I’m not afraid of death, Madam,” replied the boy, with the brightest smile. “You see, it often appears to me as if there were no real death for me; for I know that I shall go to heaven, and it is then I shall really begin to live. There, I shall no longer be crippled, but shall be able to walk about in the beautiful city the Bible tells us of. Oh, how glorious that will be! Even now the Lord Jesus is so dear and precious to me, but then I shall love Him perfectly. You see, Madam, when I think of all this, I can forget all my sufferings.”
The lady’s astonishment reached its highest point. Her eyes rested on the patient, suffering boy, hardly knowing, in her surprise, at what she saw and heard, how to continue the conversation. At last. however, she began again in a friendly tone: “Truly you are, notwithstanding all your misery, a happy boy! Many a rich, healthy child would have reason to envy you. But tell me, have you always been so happy and contented?”
“Oh, no, Madam,” replied the boy, with an earnest look, “I used to be quite afraid at the thought of dying, for you see I was not converted. But now I know that the Lord Jesus has borne all my sins on the cross, and that He loves me very much, and has prepared a place for me in heaven. Yes, Madam, I know that for sure; and when I am alone, and in great pain, then I turn my thoughts to the Lord Jesus, and I pray for all those I know, that they may also believe on Him; and when my little friends come in to read to me, I am so glad to be able to tell them what He has done for poor, lost sinners.”
A blessed silence followed. Both the little cripple and the sympathizing lady sat in deep thought, till at last the silence was broken by Jacob with these words: “I shall not live here much longer, Madam, I feel that I shall soon go to be with Jesus, my Saviour. Every morning when my dear mother goes to her work, I look after her as long as I can, till she turns the corner and I can see her no more, and I often think then that I may never see her again in this life. But I never let her know these thoughts, because it would make her and Louise very sad. As long as I am here below, I want to be—what they call me in their love—their ‘little sunshine.’”
For quite a while the dear boy went on with his happy talk, and the lady—touched most deeply by the simplicity of his childish faith—could not tire of listening to him.
At last she took her leave, but after this she renewed her visits quite often, and they helped not a little, to brighten the last days of her dear young friend.
But the hours that Jacob had to spend on earth were numbered. About a month after her first visit, the lady received the news one morning, that the dear boy was nearing his end. She hastened to his bedside and arrived just in time to hear the last words of the dying child.
“I go—to—my home—to my—precious Jesus,” he whispered in broken accents, hardly to be heard. And as a heavenly brightness spread over his pale features, he entered the eternal home, he had so longed after.
Happy boy! Now he is up there with the Lord! Delivered forever from all pain and suffering, he beholds the face of his precious Saviour, who redeemed him with His own blood.
My dear young reader, do you long too, to get there some time? Do you wish, like Jacob, to enter those everlasting abodes of light and life? If so, then hasten now this very day, to Him who came in this world to seek and to save poor lost sinners! Go to Him, just as you are, and I can assure you that He will receive you. For He Himself said: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” And if you have come to Him and know Him as your own precious Saviour, then, will you not seek to “follow” Him, and serve Him faithfully, as this dear cripple-boy did? You cannot of yourself; but He has promised to help us by His Spirit, and thus to make His strength perfect in our weakness. (2 Cor. 12 :9.) And thus, you will not only please that blessed Master now, but in the glory He will reward even the least little act done out of love for Him and for His sake here below. Trans. by E. R.
ML 06/17/1900