Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-05-03

distance. Put one year Christ does not
minele with tho boys. He has come 70
the sacred age of twelve. This !s the
year that MI the Hebrew boys are al
lowed to join the caravan Thus a. he
walks along with his parents see his
cheeks flushed with excitement. This
is most natural. Christ the boy for the
drst time ia going to sde great city
Christ the boy Is going to the capital
Of his country. Were you not excited
when your father, a farmer, took YOU
10 the city for the FIRST time?
In the Temple.
But as Christ the boy wanders
around that great capital. with its
walls and palaces and temple ana its
thousands of inhabitants and visitors,
there rises before him the dim vision
of who he Is and what God wants him
10 do. The vision is there dim In out
line, but it is there. He naturally
drifts TO the temple and talks with tho
learned rHbhis. who sat there to teach
and answer questions. The thought
that ha was the Messiah whom the
Jews were expecting was probably in
bis mind. He wanted to learn what
was the idea that the doctors had Of
that being. and his inquiries showed
so much intelligence that they marvel
cd at him. He had had a vision, but
neither they nor his parents. when
they came, understood It, What be-
came of that vision? For ten, fifteen
aye, for nearly twenty - years the
world hears nothing more about this
strange boy. Like so many other
youthful prodigies, he seems TO tiisGp.
pear forever. Ne not only goes back
20 Nazareth. but instead OF being a
messenger OF God he seems TO become
nothing but carpenter. But nearly n
score of years afterward we see this
Christ in Cana. by Lake Galilee. Then
in rapid succession come the .Jordanic
baptism and the miracles. Then come
Gethsemane and Calvary, then the
Easter resurrection and the ascension.
Al, did Christ's vision OF bovhood
come true2 So, my friends, I want to
child's visions, il they are Of God AMI
you welcome them Alright, will come
true. though they may he many years
hidden away in a Nazareth oblivion.
Beware how you sheer at those visions
Of the twelfth year
But as ! plead with you 10 be careful
IN your dealings with the God given
visions of your children ! cannot close
without Just one word Of pleading tor
yourself. You are no longer child
Your hair Is gray. Your face is wrin-
kled. Instead of having the clear blue
eyes of youth, your nos" is hridgCd
with glasses. \ score, tWosCorc. per
haps threescore years separate YOU
from the scenes Of your school days
Tell mo. do you not believe ii is full
time for You to SEQ the fultillment of
those visions Of your own childhood2
When you We're a schoolboy YOU saw
God given vision Of n day in which You
We're to surrender your whole heart
aud life unto his service. Was it
dream? DO you not believe the time
has come for that vision 10 be fulfilled
at the altar OF mercy now:
This is not useless or an Unimpor-
taut moment fo. you, This moment
may decide the eternal destiny of some
one. Your vision of childhood, about
giving your heart to Jesus Christ, came
TO some Of you nearly fifty years ago.
Shall not that vision be fulfilled in this
the twilight OF your life? Shall il not,