But the time of trial was drawing very near. And how did it end? Instead of falling upon him and slaying him and his; instead of making a spoil of the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and giving the young children to the sword, Esau's heart melted as soon as they met; he fell upon his brother's neck and kissed him; he looked lovingly upon the children who had been born to him in the far land; he spake kindly of the old days of their remembered childhood, of the grey-haired man at home; and he would not take even the present which his brother had set apart for him. Jacob knew who it was that had turned his brother's heart, and he felt more than ever what a strong and blessed thing prayer and supplication was. Nor did he forget his childhood's sin against his God. It had looked out again upon him in manhood, and reminded him of God's holiness, of his many past misdeeds, and made him pray more earnestly not to be made to "possess the iniquities of his youth." * * * * * _Father_. What should we learn from this account of Jacob's meeting Esau? _Child_. That God remembers and often visits long afterwards the sins of our childhood. F. Does not God, then, forgive the sins of children? C. Yes, He does forgive them, and blot them out for Christ's sake. F. Why, then, do we say that He visits them? C. Because He often allows the effects of past sins to be still their punishment, even when He has forgiven them. F. Why does He do so? C. To shew us how He hates sin. F. What should we learn from this? C. To watch against every sin most carefully, because we never can know what may be its effects; to remember how God has punished it, often for years, in His true servants; to pray against sin; to think no sin little. F. What should we do, if we find the consequences of past sin coming upon us? C. Take our chastisement meekly; humble ourselves under God's hand; pray for deliverance, as, "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord" (Ps. xxv. 7). F. What should be the effect on us when God hears our prayer, and delivers us? C. It should make us more humbly remember our sins and unworthiness, and strive to shew forth our thankfulness, "not with our lips only, but in our lives." {Finis: p172.jpg} LONDON: PRINTED BY GILBERT & RIVINGTON, St. John's Square. Footnotes: {6} Rev. xxii. 2. {45a} Lover of God. {45b} Wanderer. {45c} Timid. {46} Help. {49a} Prov. ii. 19. {49b} Ps. cxix. 9. {76} Isaiah xlii. 16. {79a} Isaiah xxxv. 3, 4. {79b} Ps. cxix. 67. {80} Isaiah xxxv. 9. {95a} Bold, or Rash. {95b} Tender. {96} Faith. {148a} Matt. xxv. 30. {148b} Ib. xxv. 46.