Little Willie was very poor indeed. His feet and legs were red with cold, and he had no money to buy shoes or stockings and the little fellow knew too well what it is to be hungry. Often, he ran about the cold streets in winter, and in summer slept under the arches by the river.
After a time Willie tried to earn a little money for himself by chopping wood, and got along fairly well. One day a lady met him on the street.
“My boy,” said she, “would, you like to come to the Sunday school? It is a nice, warm place, with a large, bright fire, and the children are taught there about the Lord Jesus who loves poor children.”
In the school Willie heard about the love of Jesus in giving Himself to die for sinners, and the blessings given to all those who put their trust in Him. He felt he did not love Jesus, and the little boy began to cry for sorrow. Willie felt that he had been a naughty boy, and had not been good towards God, and the thought of his siuful heart made him cry.
“Willie,” said the lady who was teacng him, “would you like to be a Christian boy?”
“I am too poor to be a Christian; I am such a very poor little boy.”
“But, Willie,” said the lady, “Jesus welcomes the poor. He is very kind to poor boys, and no one can be too poor to be a Christian. The Bible says ‘Blessed are the poor,’ and ‘the poor have the gospel preached to them.’”
“Teacher,” said Willie again, hanging his head. “I am too poor to be a Christian,”
The lady tried to find out what it really was that Willie meant, and after a little persuading, he said,
“You see, teacher, I can only earn a dollar a week at chopping wood, and that amount, you know, won’t pay for my bed and clothes and food; so sometimes, when no one is looking, I clap a nice piece of wood under my coat, and sell it. I am too poor to be a Christian boy.”
“Poor Willie,” said the lady, “you must ask God to take care of you and to give you His grace. Ask Him to keep you from stealing, and to supply your need.”
After trying to lead the little boy to the love and kindness of God in the gift of His Son, and trying to get him to trust and confide in Him, the lady said:
“If at any time you are very much in want, you may come to me, and I will try to do what I can to help you.”
Willie went to his work the next morng with the wish to keep his hand from stealing. Chop, chop, chop; went his hatchet all day long and at the end of the week his employer gave him one dollar, but it would not buy all he wanted, still he felt happier, because he had not done that which he knew to be wrong.
The next week Willie went on with his chopping wood. One evening the temptation came. It was getting dark; he looked around, this side and that side, no one was watching, and there was a nice piece of wood at his feet. Under his tattered coat his little heart went pit-pat, and he felt very uncomforble, just as everybody does when he is going to do something wrong. Then he looked at the wood again, and thought,
“O, it is such a pretty piece of wood, such a nice piece! I could just pop it under my jacket and nobody would see me. It would sell for enough money to buy me a nice loaf of bread and other nice things!”
Willie looked around; still no one was watching; he stretched out his hand to take the wood, when he thought he saw an eye looking at him. He quickly pulled back his hand.
“No!” said he. “I won’t take it; God is looking at me!”
The temptation has passed; God gave Willie strength to resist it, and he was all the happier for keeping from doing wrong, but he was none the less hungry, and was as poor as before; yet the poor boy thought it was better to have a heart at ease, than to have enough to eat and drink and all the while feel a weight of sorrow.
At the end of the week his employer called Willie to him. I wonder if he feared lest he had been seen stretching out his hand towards the piece of wood? But a kind voice gave him confidence.
“My boy,” said the man, “I have watched you this week, and noticed how much better you have behaved, and how much better you have attended to your work. I will give one dollar and a half, instead of one dollar, and may you always be a good boy.”
Willie’s heart went pit-pat, pit-pat again very fast, but not in the same way as when he was looking at the piece of wood. This time it was with joy and pleasure. He thanked his master very much and ran off to the lady’s house to tell her the good news. His bare feet soon bounded up the clean, white steps of the house, and with a glad heart he rang the bell and told her all his happy story.
“Well, my boy, ‘godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise, not only of the life that now is, but also of that which is to come.’ God rewards those who seek to please and obey Him,” said the lady, and she encouraged the poor child to trust in the Lord and seek to do only those things which would be pleasing to Him.”
Willie tripped home. How happy he felt! And when he came to his own little dwelling place, the ragged boy felt a joy within himself which no one can know eept those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their own Saviour, and whom God in His great mercy has enabled to serve Him.
God is the same to you, dear little friends, as He was to Willie. Try to follow His ways and words, and you will see that He will never let you suffer.
ML 09/14/1941