March, 1941
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
95
Junior King's Business By MARTHA S. HOOKER Member of Faculty, Bible Institute of Los Angeles
nally, “Hear.” And then comes the promise, “And your soul shall live.” When I was a lad of ten years, I was playing one morning in a field near our home with my two younger brothers and a neighbor’s children, when my mother came to the door and called us to come to her. My two little brothers responded to Mother’s call and ran to the house; but I turned and ran to the neighbors’ house, making believe that I had not heard. After an hour of play, I came home to find the house empty, and a glass of milk on the dining room table with a note that Mother and Father had gone for the day with my brothers to visit a distant relative and would not be back till dusk. So I was left alone because I had not been willing to heed my mother’s call and stop my play. It was perhaps the longest day that I ever spent,, a sad and lonely day. Throughout the day I kept repeating to myself, “ Oh! I wish I had heeded Moth er’s call and STOPPED MY PLAYING.” When God gives us “ STOP SIGNS’’— such as the Cross where the Lord Jesus died for our sins, and the Bible that brings God’s loving message to us— what should we do about those “signs” ? Getting Even By B etty J ean B yrd T IM M Y was standing on the edge of I the big glistening ice pond with a pair of brand new skates on; but even so, he was .very unhappy. You see, he had just moved into the neigh borhood, and he had no friends at all with whom he could play. He wanted to meet a boy who would be his pal, but no one had even noticed him. He stood there for some time, wondering whether or not to go home. He tried to skate, but the pond was much too slick for him, as he had never been on ice skates before. Then he smiled, for coming toward him was a small boy about his own age. “Maybe he will be my pal, and teach me to skate,” thought Jimmy. But the boy did not seem friendly at all. In fact, he gave Jimmy a big push which sent him sprawling on the ice. Jimmy scrambled to his feet, only to fall down again and again, while the boy stood near, laughing very hard. Finally Jimmy gave up and just sat there. He laughed, too, although hfe didn’t see anything that was very funny. Soon the boy approached cautiously, as if he were afraid that Jimmy would try to pay him back; but Jimmy only smiled, and told him that he -didn’t know how to skate. “We just came here day before yes terday,” Jimmy explained. “I don’t even know where the church is yet. Could you tell me ? ” The boy, whose name was Bud, looked, very much surprised. “Do you go to church?” he gasped.
STOP SIGNS By R obert L. E vans
■ O DOUBT you have been with some one else who was driving when you came to a street in arm stretched out in front of you bear ing the sign in red letters: “ STOP.” The city officials had the sign put up for the safety of traveler^ Some people get impatient with these “SCOP” signs at our street intersections because these signs interfere with their fast driving on our city streets. Instead, they should be thankful, for these signals make the traffic on our streets safer than if every driver could rush through the cross Streets just as he pleased. Every time that I am compelled to wait in front of a “ STOP” sign and am tempted to be impatient with the delay, I note other machines hurriedly crossing along the other street at right angles in front of me. Then I am re minded that other people besides myself have rights and privileges in this world. They have the right of way now, may be, but my turn will come next. If I am to get along in this world without bringing trouble upon myself and oth ers, I must recognize other people’s rights. If I do not, then I am like the man who selfishly drives under the red “STOP” sign and collides with another machine, bringing harm to himself and those around him. Boys and girls, I want you to think about God’s “ STOP” signs that He has on life’s highway on which we are all traveling. We are living in a time when things move swiftly, and most people are traveling at too high a speed. Often they are headed the wrong way or are on the wrong road. God has His “ STOP” signals along life’s highway. They are danger signals, and if you run by without stopping, He may not “ar rest” you, but you will suffer much loss and wish some day that you had heeded the signal and had stopped. The death of God’s Son on the cross of shame is God’s great “STOP LIGHT” to the people of this world. God in giv ing His Son to die on the cross for us expresses His love for us, as that famil iar verse, that I hope you all know, states: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This is, as it were, God’s great arm stretched out in loving-kindness toward
tersection at which the driver suddenly stopped. You saw a signpost with an
the people of this world who have for gotten Him and are running away from Him. He is calling to them, especially to all the boys and girls, saying some thing like this: “STOP! Behold and look; see how much the Saviour loved you, in that He died for you.” Thife is the heart of the gospel that makes it “good news” for us — that Christ died for our sins. Thus all who hear the gospel, the story of Christ’s dying for our sins, either stop at the cross, receive the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, and, like Bunyan’s Pilgrim, lose their burden of sins, or they ignore God’s “ STOP LIGHT’ and pass on to live in sin and rebellion to God and are lost forever. Again, the Bible with its message of love and warning is another of God’s “STOP LIGHTS.” God is really calling to the hurrying busy men and women of the world and to the thoughtless boys and girls, “ STOP, listen to My voice in the Bible.” If you were away from home living with strangers, and on a certain morn ing the mail man brought you a letter from home, would you not at once stop your play or whatever you were doing to read that letter? The Bible is God’s letter to you. It brings a message of comfort, light, and hope. In Isaiah 55:2, 3, we have a fourfold exhortation and a promise linked toge ther. God was speaking through His prophet to the people of that day, and this is what He said: “Hearken dili gently unto me” ; that is, give close at tention to what God is saying. “Incline your ear” ; that is, listen carefully. Again, “Come unto me” ; that is, come near so you can hear distinctly, and fi
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