Dear Boys and Girls,
I wonder how many of you know the name of Francis Ridley Havergal. I'm sure some of you may know some of the hymns she wrote, for Francis Ridley Havergal was a hymn-writer. Have you ever sung "Golden harps are sounding, Angel voices ring"? or "I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus"? or "Who is on the Lord's side"? These, and many other great hymns were written by Francis Ridley Havergal and in the hymns that she wrote she always loved to speak about the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He meant to her.
It wasn't always so, however, boys and girls, and the only thing that Francis Ridley Havergal really seemed to love when she was a little girl was her parent's garden where she used to spend most of her time looking at the flowers and sitting under the trees. She knew a great deal about the Bible and when she was only about eight years of age she could repeat whole chapters of the Bible without making one mistake. But, although she knew the Bible, she didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour, and so, she had no real love for Him, but only for her garden.
One day when young Francis was reading some hymns written by a man called William Cowper she came across these words —
"My Father made them all"
She had always believed that God had made the world and all things in the world and all the tings that grew in her garden. However, the words that struck young Francis Ridley Havergal were those two words at the beginning of the line – "MY FATHER made them all." Even in her young life she began to realise that, although God was her Creator - although He had made all things – still withall, God was not really her heavenly Father. Before God would really be her Father she would have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all her heart.
This is true for every one of us, boys and girls; and as Francis Ridley Havergal later found Christ to be her Saviour we pray that you too, might find Him soon.
