Gathering Jewels: The Secret of a Beautiful Life: In Memoriam of Mr. & Mrs. James Knowles. Selected from Their Diaries.Knowles, James
Religion
Gathering Jewels: The Secret of a Beautiful Life: In Memoriam of Mr. & Mrs. James Knowles. Selected from Their Diaries.
Knowles, James
Allen Street Presbyterian Church (New York, N.Y.); Knowles, James, 1811-1886; Knowles, Matilda Darroch, 1811-1886
The primary object of the successful worker then is to reach the hearts
of the parents through the children, constantly remembering the
divinely inspired words, "that a little child shall lead them." Let the
following extracts from her pen speak for themselves:
"During the last month I have made two hundred and five visits, and
brought eight children to the Sunday-school. I often find if we can
gain the affection of the children it opens a way to the parent's
hearts. For example: On entering a room one day, I asked if they had
a Bible. The father, a rough-looking man, said, 'We have no money to
buy Bibles--we need all our money to get something to eat.' 'Oh,'
said I, 'if you have not the means to buy one I will give you one
for nothing.' 'If I get it for nothing, I will thank you for it.' I
took him one the next day; he thanked me very politely, and said, 'I
will read it.' I handed the little girl a tract, in which was a
picture of a child kneeling in prayer. The father seemed pleased,
and before leaving, I said to the child, 'Now, my dear, if you learn
to do as that little girl does, God will love you.' She looked up
and said, 'Yes, ma'am.' When I called a few days after, the father
said, 'My little girl did not forget her promise to you. Every night
and morning she kneels down and prays, and thinks we should all do
the same. I have been reading in the Bible. It tells us a great many
good things, and when I get some clothes I shall try and come to
church.'"
* * * * * *
We must form our opinion of aggressive work for Christ by the fruits
that are produced. The pictorial tract put into the hands of the little
girl, and her subsequent conduct, elicited the attention of that
rough-looking father, and oh, what a blessed testimony to the power of
divine grace in the parental statement, "Every night and morning she
kneels down and prays, and thinks we should all do the same." It is
evident that children feel the full force of the words of the apostle:
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, by a new and living; way, which he hath consecrated for
us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and having a high
priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
* * * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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