FAR from here in a beautiful country, there are very high mountains; they are so high, that the tops are so wrapped up in the clouds that they are lost to the eye, and they are covered with snow, even when it is quite warm down below.
On the slopes of these mountains are many precipices, that is to say, very deep places between steep rocks. If one tried to climb to the top and slipped, then one would fall hundreds of feet, and be dashed to pieces at the bottom.
Just place two books of the same size standing right up on the table, separated a little from each other, then you can understand how two rocks stood close to each other with a terrible empty space between. If you stood on the top of one rock, you could not pass over to the other without a bridge.
At the place now, which I am going to tell you about, there was such a precipice between two rocks. There was no bridge across it, over which people could pass. One day, however, a large piece of rock broke off, and in falling, remained wedged between the two steep sides. It made a natural bridge and was immediately made use of.
On one side of the mountain there was a little hut in which a little girl of six years old lived with her father. One day, as Nellie—so the child was called—was going around everywhere picking wild flowers and climbing up the slope of the mountain, she heard the neighbors say that the bridge was no longer safe, that the violent storm that had raged the night before, had shaken it badly.
Little Nellie hurried home, and when her father returned, she said to him: “Don’t cross over the rock any more, father; they say that it is no longer safe, and will fall if any one tries to cross.”
“Nonsense, foolishness!” the father answered, “the bridge is safe enough, I must cross it this evening, Nellie! I don’t listen to the chatter of people.”
“O, father, don’t do it” said little Nellie, “it may fall, and you would be killed.”
“I tell you, that I must cross by it this evening,” he said decidedly, “it’s all right, don’t be afraid.”
His little daughter was silent for a few minutes, thinking; then she said: “Father, I wish you would let me go with you this evening when you go out. May I?”
Nellie was her father’s darling, and he loved to have her with him; so he said: “Yes, you may, if you like, although it’s rather late for such a little girl.”
After supper they went out together, and she walked beside him. After a while, she said in a timid way: “Father, if you were to die tonight, where would you go?”
“I really don’t know,” he answered, rather surprised that she should ask him such a question.
“Yes, but, father, if you died to night, would you go to heaven?”
“Yes, I think so,” he said, to set her mind at rest.
“I know that I shall go there when I die,” she said, “the Bible says, that the Lord Jesus died for my sins; that He has forgiven them, so I can go and live with Him forever.”
They walked on a little farther, and soon the dangerous rock was in sight.
“Will you promise me one thing, father? I want you to stand still a few minutes here, and let me walk on a little farther. Will you?”
“Yes, Nellie, just as you like,” he said, while he waited to see what she would do.
She walked on a bit, till she came to the great rock. It was hanging there still, looking very dangerous; but her little heart was filled with a deep self-sacrificing love, and she placed first one little foot, and then the other, on the bridge. The rock shook, turned over, and fell with a tremendous crash down into the deep precipice. Little Nellie was dragged down with it; but at the same moment her soul was safely with the Lord Jesus, whom she loved. She trusted in Him, and knew that He had died for her on the cross, and would take her up immediately to be forever with Himself. Happy, brave little Nellie! When she heard her father say that he must go over the bridge and when he declared that he did not know what would become of him if he were to die, she thought she would ask him to remain a little behind, while she went on to try the rock to see if it was safe. She died willingly instead of her father. She gave her life for his.
I think that during the walk she prayed for her father that the Lord would touch his heart. We do not know what passed in that young heart.
What would you think of her father, if I were to say that he just looked down and saw her little body lying at the bot-tom of the ravine, then walked home and forgot all about it? You would say that he was an ungrateful, hard-hearted man. And vet some children that I know of, are worse. One, there is, who left the glorious, blessed home of His Father, to come down on this poor, sinful world. One who loved children so much, that He took them in His arms and blessed them, and finally took on Himself the punishment that they deserved, and underwent a much more terrible death than that of little Nellie. He bore sin in His own body on the tree, destroyed it forever, arose from the dead, returned to His Father in heaven, and now invites all children to come to Him. He tells them in His Word, that His precious blood can wash them from all their sins, and that, although they have wicked hearts, and do not deserve to be in heaven, He will forgive them and take them to Himself, if they believe in Him. And yet many have heard the beautiful story of Jesus’ love, but have never truly, from the bottom of their hearts, thanked Him for it.
In the Bible He is spoken of as the Rock. The rock that I have told you about, was unsafe; but Jesus, the Rock of Ages, cannot be moved. If your little feet stand on that Rock, all the storms of life cannot move you from it.
I think that Nellie’s father screamed, when he saw her tender little body dragged down in the depths, and that he must have thought how much she must have loved him. Here below he can never see her again, but he will see her there above, where there is no parting and no more sin, if he has been washed in the blood of Jesus.
Nellie died for one who loved her. Jesus died for us, when we did not love Him. He died for His enemies. Can you still turn away when He is inviting you with so much love to come to Him? Today, while you are reading this paper, Jesus knocks at the door of your heart. Will you open to Him? If you do so, He will make His dwelling there, and never, never forsake you. “He will lead you by His council, and afterward take you up into glory.” If you will not let Him in, but turn from Him, then when it is too late, you will call to Him to open to you, but then His ear that is now open, will be closed to you. He will not then recognize you as one of His lambs, nor will He lead you safely to His flock. So come to Him now; confess your sins, and believe simply what God says, that the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
ML-12/26/1920