Then one day Alice heard the story of Jesus and of His love for her, and she gladly and eagerly responded by receiving Him as her own Saviour. She believed the words of John 1:12: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons ( “ children,” R.V.) of God . . .” Soon with new interest she was singing the songs she had learned. A favorite was one that every Sunday-school pupil knows: “ Jesus loves me! this I know, For the Bible tell me so.” But Alice had never realized how much the Lord Jesus suffered for her, until on this particular day she heard for the first time the story of the cru cifixion. Her heart was broken at the thought that cruel thorns had rested on His head, and that nail had pierced the hands that had blessed little chil dren. Of course Miss Rae hurried up to Alice’s room in the dormitory at the close of the class. She found her still sobbing as she lay on her bed. “ Oh, how could they treat Him so?” Alice cried between her sobs. “ It was a sad, sad story, Alice, but you did not wait to hear how it end ed.” “ Oh, don’t tell me any more, Miss Rae. I can’t bear to hear any more,” she pleaded. “ But the last part will make you happy, Alice, dear; you will love this part,” Miss Rae continued, not heed ing Alice’s request. “The Lord Jesus did die on the cross and was buried in a new tomb in a garden. But, Alice, He lay in that tomb only three days and three nights, for He arose -9 and is living today! An angel rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb and proclaimed the glad news to the sad friends of the Lord Jesus: ‘He is risen.’ ” “ He is — oh ■—■I’m so glad!” By now Alice was sitting up on the side of her bed, her face alight with in terest. “How did it happen, Miss Rae? Do tell me all about it.” And Miss Rae began reading from her New Testament the sweet story of that glad resurrection day: “Now upon the first day of the week, . . . they came unto the sepulchre . . . And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. . . .” And when the story was finished, both sat silent for a moment, and then Alice exclaimed out of the fullness of her heart, “ Isn’t He wonderful, Miss Rae? I do love Him.” And Miss Rae kissed the tear-stained cheeks and whispered softly, “Yes, dear, we do love Him, and some day we shall see Him and be with Him forever.” —M.S.H.
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O H -o o how could they do it!” sobbed Alice. And with tears streaming down her cheeks, she hur ried from the classroom up the steps to her own room in the dormitory. Miss Rae and the other children in the Bible class were quite unprepared for this sudden outburst of emotion. True, the class was reading the story that should touch every heart — the story of our Lord’s suffering and death on the cross. But though it was being read thoughtfully and prayerfully, there were no tears in the eyes of a single boy or girl, save one child, and that was Alice. Could it be that the story had grown a bit too familiar to these boys and girls? Alice was hear ing it for the very first time. Alice had spent most of her early life on a large ranch in a Western state. There had been no neighbors for miles around, and she had spent her early childhood days practically alone. When she was still quite young, both her father ,and mother died. Be
cause Alice was left alone in the world, kind friends had sent her to a Christian school where she could learn not only the things that every boy and girl learns at school, but also about the Lord Jesus, who loves boys and girls. What a strange experience school life was for Alice! At first she was quite shy, but as the days passed by, she began to enter into the happy life of the other boys and girls in the school, and soon she seemed quite at home in this large school family. She loved the songs the children sang, and learned them very quickly. Often she could be heard humming the tunes as she played or worked around the school. There was one she seemed to like best of all, though at first she hardly realized its meaning: “ Jesus the Saviour is Of boys and girls;
None other ever could Save boys and girls.”
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M A R C H , 1 9 5 9
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