A little girl was on a visit to her aunt, who, being a real Christian, sought to instruct the child in the knowledge of Christ. She asked the little one, “What are the first words of the 23rd Psalm?” Promptly the answer came, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
“Well, these words, dear, just answer to your five fingers.”
THE—putting the finger on the thumb of the left hand;
LORD—touching the first finger;
IS—touching the second;
MY—touching the third;
SHEPHERD—touching the fourth.
“Now,” asked the aunt, “which of these five words do you like best?” And on her little fingers she went over and over the words till at last she paused; her mind was made up—it was the one that stood for the MY. This is just what faith does. It is taking Jesus as MY own Saviour, it is believing that He loved me and gave Himself for me. Faith believes that, “He was wounded for our transgressions” (Isa. 53:55But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)) and then says, “for my transgressions.” It says, “He gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:66Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2:6)) and therefore “He gave Himself a ransom for me.” Thus faith takes all that Jesus did as done for me personally, and all His love and care and faithfulness are my very own.
The little girl went home again after the visit to her aunt, and it was not very long before she had a stroke of paralysis which so affected her speech that she could not make herself understood. As the end drew near her mother asked her if she had really found peace through faith in the Lord Jesus, and the only response was the moving of the right hand and clasping the third finger of the left—and thus she died. The parents could not understand it, though they marked the movements of the little hands and wondered what it might mean. Sometime after they told the aunt about the death of the child and how she passed away holding the third finger of her left hand.
“Oh, I know what it meant,” said the aunt; and she told the sorrowing parents about the lesson on the first five words of the 23rd Psalm, and all was plain.
Can you say, dear reader, “He loved me and gave Himself for me?”
ML 09/06/1953