Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Christian life -- Juvenile fiction
Eddie's father has a disagreeable neighbour. In one way or another he
is a constant source of annoyance. Sometimes his pigs will creep
through the fence, and root up the smooth green lawn. His part of the
fence he will not keep in repair, and the hungry cows, in search of
food, will break into the garden, and make sad havoc among the
cabbages and other vegetables. His fine bay horse, whom he knows will
jump over any ordinary fence, is permitted to run in a pasture, where
he can eke out his scanty meal by a hearty lunch among Mr. Dudley's
corn. All these aggressions, and many more, have been borne with the
greatest patience.
Mr. Dudley has often been advised to resort to the law as a means of
defence, yet he has been reluctant to do so. The children have
sometimes felt very indignant when they have been obliged to chase the
pigs or the cows out of the yard or field, but their parents have
endeavoured to teach them Christian forbearance.
At one time Eddie had been thinking about Mr. Morrison,--for by that
name I shall call the unpleasant neighbour,--and he said very
seriously to his mother,
"Mother, can Mr. Morrison go to heaven if he dies."
She hesitated a moment how to answer him, for, she had taught him that
it is wicked to lie and to swear, and that if a person loves God he
will not be in the habit of committing such sins; so she told him,
that unless Mr. Morrison repented he could not go to heaven.
At another time Eddie and his mother were talking about God's love for
the beings he has made. She told him that God loves every one.
"Does he love Mr. Morrison?" he inquired.
"Yes, God loves Mr. Morrison. He is grieved and offended by his
wickedness, but he loves him. You know I love you, when you have done
wrong, although I am sorry that you have been naughty. I do not cease
to love you. The Bible tells us that while we were sinners, God so
loved us as to send his Son to die for us. He loves all, and wishes
all to repent and believe in Christ, and be happy. He has provided a
way for all who believe to be saved, and it is only because people
love sin more than they love holiness, that they are lost."
Nothing can give us a higher idea of God's love, than the thought that
he loves every one--even his enemies. "God is love." What a blessed,
glorious thought! How it encourages us to trust him at all times!
God does not willingly afflict, nor grieve, nor punish any one. All
that he does, he does from the truest love.
The knowledge that God loves us should lead us to love him. We are
naturally disposed to love those who love us, and always do, unless
there is something repulsive about them. There can be nothing
repulsive about God, for he is love, and we who love him, love him
because he first loved us.
One night, after little Eddie had repeated the Lord's Prayer and his
usual evening petitions, he raised his head, and said to his mother,
"Shan't I pray for Mr. Morrison, now?"
"Yes, dear, if you wish to," she answered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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