Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1894-11-22

childish indignation, she might have
said: Good for them: I'm glad
Naaman's got the leprosy; / wish all
the Syrians had the leprosy." No.
Forgetting her personal sorrows, she
sympathizes with the sufferings of her
master, and commends him to the
famous Hebrew prophet.
And how often it is that the finger
of childhood has pointed grown per-
sons in the right direction. 0 Chris
tian soul, how long is it since you got
rid of the leprosy of sin? You say:
Let me see. 1t must be five years
now" Five years. Who was it that
pointed you to the divine physician?
o." you say, sit was my little Annie,
or Fred, or Charley, that clambered on
my knees, and looked into my face,
and asked me why l didn't become
Christian, and, all the time stroking
my check, SO l couldn't get angry, in
sisted upon knowing why l didn't have
family prayers There are grand
parents who have been brought to
Christ by their little grandchildren.
There are hundreds of Christian moth
ers who had their attention first called
to Jesus by their little children. How
did you get rid of the leprosy of sin?
How did you find your way to the di-
vine physician? So" you say, ''my
child-my dying child, with wan and
wasted finger, pointed that way. o, l
never shall forget" you say, ''that
scene at the cradle and the crib that
awful night. 1t was hard, hard, very
hard; but if that little one on it's dying
bed had not pointed me to Christ, 1
don't think / ever would have got rid
of my leprosy." Go into the Sabbath
school any Sunday and you will find
hundreds of little fingers pointing in
the same direction, toward Jesus Christ
and toward heaven.
Years ago the astronomers calculated
a certain point in the heavens, and a
large prize was offered for some one
who could discover that world. The
telescopes from the great observatories
were pointed in vain; but girl at
Nantucket, Mass, fashioned a tele-
scope, and looking through it dis
covered that star and won the prize,
and the admiration of all the astrono-
mical world, that stood amazed at her
genius. And so it is often the case that
grown people can not see the light,
while some little child beholdS the star
of pardon, the star of hope, the star of
consolation, the star of Bethlehem, the
morning star of Jesus. Not many
mighty men, not many wise men are
called; but God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the
mighty; and base things, and things
that are not, to bring to nought things
that are O,dO not despise the prattle
of little children when they are speak
ing about God, and Christ. and heaven.
You see the way your child is pointing;
will you take that pointing, or wait
until, in the wrench of some awful
bereavement, God shall lift that child
to another world, and then it will
beckon you upward? Will you take
the pointing, or will you wait for the
reckoning? Blessed be God that the
little Hebrew captive pointed in the
right direction. Blessed be God for
the saving ministry of Christian
children.
How the countrymen gaped as the
procession passed! They had seen
Naaman go past like whirlwind in
days gone by, and had stood aghast at
the clank of his war equipments; but
now they commiserate him. They say:
poor man, he will never get home
alive; poor man.
General Naaman wakes up from a rest
less sleep in the chariot and he says to
the charioteer: Glow long before we
shall reach the Prophet Elisha?" The
charioteer says to the waysider: "How
far is it to Elisha's house?" He says:
Two miles 1.-TWO miles?" Then
they whip up the lathered and tagged
out horses. The whole procession
brightens up at the prospect of a speedy
arrival. They drive up to the door of
the prophet. The chariotecrs shout:
whoa to the horses, and tramping
hoofs and grinding wheels cease shak
ing the earth. Come out, Elisha, come
out; you have company; the grand
est company that ever came to
your house has come to it now
No stir inside Elisha's house. The
fact was, the Lord had informed Elisha
that the sick captain was coming, and
just how to treat him. Indeed, when
you are sick. and the Lord wants you
to get WELL he always tells the doctor
how to treat you; and the reason we
have SO many bungling doctors is be-
cause they depend upon their own
strength and instructions, and not on
the Lord God, and that always makes
malpractice. Come out, Elisha, and
attend to your business. General
Naaman and his retinue waited, and
waited, and waited. The fact was,
Naaman had two diseases-pride and
leprosy; the one was as hard to get
rid of as the other. Elisha sits quietly
in his house and does not go out. After
| awhile, when he thinks he has hum
bled this proud man, he says to SER
want $50 out and tell General Naa
man to battle seven times in the River
Jordan, out yonder five miles, and he
will get entirely we'll" The mes
sage comes out: What! says the
| commandcr-in-chie of the Syrian
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