NO ONE could answer this question, in a school of six little girls, who lived with two kind ladies in a pleasant country home. A little silk bag was lost, and no one could tell what had become of it. Weeks and months passed away, so I suppose the children would never expect to see the little bag any more.
Now, not far from the window of the school-room where these children had their daily lessons, a pair of swallows had built their nest; not made of hay and straw; like, those of many other little birds, but of bits of clay stuck together, and then lined with something soft and warm. Many of you well know that, when the summer is over, the swallows all fly away to find a warmer home for the winter.
So the little nest near the school-room was left behind; and, what do you think? There, indeed, was the little silk bag, which, I suppose, the bird had picked up one day when the window was open and no one there.
Now, we may call the bird a little thief; but then we know that a bird cannot tell when it is doing wrong, for it has not a conscience as you have. And I have now to tell you something sad about the six little girls, who, though they knew that it was wrong, took apples from the garden belonging to their, kind friends. After they had gone on doing this, I am afraid, for some time, they began to feel very sorry for it, and made up their minds they would tell the two ladies all about it. So they wrote three little letters, two children joining at each letter, and confessed what they had done. You may be sure their kind friends forgave them, and I think we may also be sure that they never took those apples any more.
I wonder, dear children, if you know that verse in 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9), “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
ML 12/08/1918