Mother was ironing the dresses the girls were to wear. Baby Edith was watching intently. Swish, swish went the shiny iron. Soon Mother was finished and set the iron on the counter to cool while she went to tie the boys’ shoes.
Just that quickly, Edith started pushing a chair over to the counter.
“Oh, no you don’t, little darling — that’s HOT!” said Mother, scooping Edith up in her arms.
How often God gently warns us to stay away from things that would harm us. But Edith was determined to get that iron. The next time she tried to reach it she got a spanking. Sometimes God must speak to us more forcibly if we continue in a wrong course. But He graciously warns us in His Word, the Bible. May we faithfully read it and carefully store it up in our hearts so that we may be kept from sinning against Him.
Now it was Mother’s turn to get dressed. Just for safe keeping, she took the still-hot iron into the bathroom with her while she got ready. Soon there was a knock at the bathroom door. Helen needed help with a stuck zipper.
While the door was open and Mother was busy working on the stuck zipper, Edith toddled in and grabbed the iron she wanted so much. She quickly dropped it, but she had to pay for her self-will with a badly burned hand. May we not be like little Edith, seeking what we think will please ourselves, but like our blessed Saviour who said, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God.”
ML-09/20/1987