Joan's cheeks felt hot, and if anyone had noticed her just then they would have thought that they were a very rosy red indeed! Oh, what a guilty conscience she had as she listened to the voices of her Aunt and Cousin in the next room! They were hunting for a doll, a very pretty little doll that Joan had just stolen!
Joan had come to visit Aunt Jen whom she dearly loved, but before she had even taken off her hat and coat she had seen the little doll on the bureau, slipped it off when no one was watching, and had hidden it under her hat on the bed.
Now she heard Aunt Jen say, “I just can't imagine where that doll went to. I saw it here just before Joan came. It must be somewhere!”
Joan squirmed as she sat on the floor pretending to be interested in some toys. Though she was just five years old she knew it was a very wicked thing that she had done. Oh, what was that they were saying? It sounded as though they were looking in her coat pockets! Suppose—oh, just suppose they should think to ... ” Aunt Jen!”
“Yes, Joan.”
“Don't—don't look under my hat!”
And of course, that's just what Aunt Jen did! Joan learned that her Aunt had planned to give her the little doll, but now she could not think of giving it to a little girl who would steal.
When Joan's mother heard all about it she opened her Bible and read to Joan about God being able to see even the hidden sin, and that all sinners would be punished in the “lake of fire”!
How terrible that sounded to little Joan! She knew she was a sinner indeed.
Then one day, a short time later, her sister who was just two years older was saved as she read and believed John 5:24,24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24) “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (punishment); but is passed from death unto life.” She told Joan all about it, and told her that she too could be saved for God loved her though she was a sinner. The next morning Joan said eagerly to her mother, “Mother, I'm saved!”
“You are? Why, how do you know you are?”
“Didn't Jesus die for little children as well as for big folks?”
“Yes, God's Word says that He died for all, dear.”
“Then,” said Joan happily, “Jesus died for me—I'm saved!”