Hello Boys and Girls,
I am Mrs. Seaton, the Pastor's wife, and I have been given this page in the new magazine to tell you lots of stories, to teach you some choruses, and perhaps set you a quiz from time to time. I hope that from month to month the stories I tell will be interesting to you all – from the “tinies” right up to the bigger boys and girls.
Now children, what did you get at Christmas? Lots and lots of nice things, I hope. I wonder how many of those things have broken already. None! Oh, I'm sure some of you have some broken pieces lying in your toy cupboard. You see, nothing really lasts forever. Mary's new dress will wear out. John's football is a good one, but it won't last very long before there is a tear in it. Even mother's new pots and pans, and even daddy's new motor car – if he has been fortunate enough to get a smashing present like that for Christmas – will one day end up in the scrapyard.
It's lovely to receive all the wonderful gifts that we do receive at Christmas time, and it's nice to know that we have so many kind friends who love us enough to give us all these things. But, boys and girls, here is the first lesson I want to teach you as we begin this new year – that nothing lasts forever. All the toys and clothes, books and sweets are only material things, and they will soon get broken, or wear out, or be finished with. Nothing lasts forever.
And yet, there is something that does last forever; and that's why we must remember to be specially thankful to God for the most wonderful Gift of all. Now, what was that? Yet, it was Jesus of course. The bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave his only Begotten Son”. There is God acting like a friend and giving us something. He is giving us Jesus to be our Saviour.
That's what Christmas means; it means that on that very first Christmas day when Jesus was born, God was giving us his perhaps you felt very close to Jesus when the carols were being sung and when we were all thinking about the manger, and the wise men, and the shepherds keeping their flocks by night. But, we must go on feeling close to Him, and living close to Him, for, remember, He is not like the other gifts, to keep for a few days and then to forget about. But, He is the gift that lasts forever.
Have you received Jesus as a gift from God, boys and girls? If not, then you can ask God today, at the start of this New Year, to send Jesus into your heart forever.
This Page Title – Mrs Seaton introduces herself to the Boys and Girls. From Issue One of the Wicket Gate Magazine (January 1967) The Wicket Gate Magazine "A Continuing Witness". Internet Edition number 100 – placed on line January 2013 Magazine web address – www.wicketgate.co.uk |