A little girl named May was visiting her Christian aunt who sought to tell her of the love the Lord Jesus had for her. She asked her little niece, “What are the first words of Psalms 23?” Promptly the little one answered, “The LORD is my Shepherd.”
“Now,” said her aunt, “these words just answer to your five fingers—try it.” “The,” putting her finger on the thumb of her left hand; “LORD,” touching the first finger; “is”—touching her second finger; “my”—touching the third; “Shepherd”—touching the fourth.
“Now,” asked her aunt, “which of these five words do you like best?” And on May’s 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 loves me, and gave Himself for me. Faith says, “He was wounded for my transgressions.” “He gave Himself a ransom for me.” Faith takes all that Jesus did, as done for me personally, and all His love, care, and faithfulness are my very own.
Little May went home shortly after, and it was not very long before she was stricken with paralysis, which so affected her speech that she could not make herself understood. As the end drew near, her mother asked her had she really found peace through faith in the Lord Jesus, and the only response was when little May clasped the third finger of her left hand with her right. And thus she died. Her parents could not understand it, though they marked the movements of the little hands and wondered what it might mean. Sometime after, they told her aunt of how little May had passed away holding the third finger of her left hand.
“Oh, I know what it meant,” said her aunt, joyfully. She told the sorrowing parents about the lesson of the first five words of the 23rd Psalm. Thus, all was plain.
Can you say, “He loved me and gave Himself for me; I take Him as my Saviour, and the Lord is my Shepherd?”
ML 06/20/1965