The Happy Little Girl by J.C. Ryle

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THE HAPPY LITTLE GIRL
by J. C. Ryle
This book is gratefully dedicated to R.T. Spivey and his
grandchildren: Alexandra, Alice, Carson, Claire, Ellery,
Emily, Evelyn, Madeline, Molly, Morgan, Noah, Robert
Taylor, Wesley, Wyatt
He that has trained his children for heaven, rather than
for earth- for God rather than for man- he is the parent
who will be called wise at the last.
-J.C. Ryle-
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THE HAPPY LITTLE GIRL
Dear Children,
Would you like to know who was the happiest child I ever
saw? Listen to me, and I will tell you.
The happiest child I ever saw was a little girl whom I once
met traveling in a railway carriage. We were both going on a
journey to London, and we traveled a great many miles
together. She was only eight years old, and she was blind.
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She had never been able to see at all. She had never seen the
sun, and the stars, and the sky, and the grass, and the
flowers, and the trees, and the birds, and all those pleasant
things which you see every day of your lives; but still she
was quite happy. She was by herself, poor little thing. She
had no friends or relations to take care of her on the
journey, and be good to her; but she was quite happy and
content. She said when she got into the carriage, "Tell me
how many people there are in the carriage: I am quite blind,
and can see nothing." A gentleman asked her if she was
afraid? "No," she said, "I am not frightened; I have traveled
before, and I trust in God, and people are always very good
to me.”
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But I soon found out the reason why she was so happy; and
what do you think it was? She loved Jesus Christ—and
Jesus Christ loved her; she had sought Jesus Christ, and she
had found Him.
I began to talk to her about the Bible, and I soon saw that
she knew a great deal of it. She went to a school where the
teacher used to read the Bible to her; and she was a good
girl, and had remembered what her teacher had read.
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Dear children, you cannot think how many things in the
Bible this poor little blind girl knew. I only wish that every
grown up person in England knew as much as she did. But I
must try and tell you some of them.
She talked to me about sin:
how it first came into the
world, when Adam and Eve
ate the forbidden fruit, and
how it was to be seen
everywhere now. "Oh," she
said, "there are no really
good people! The very best
people in the world have
many sins every day, and I
am sure we all of us waste a
great deal of time, if we do
nothing else wrong. Oh, we
are all such sinners! There
is nobody who has not
sinned a great many sins."
And then she talked about
Jesus Christ. She told me
about the agony in the
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garden of Gethsemane—about His sweating drops of blood
—about the soldiers nailing Him to the cross—about the
spear piercing His side, and blood and water coming out.
"Oh," she said, " how very good it was of Him to die for us,
and such a cruel death! How good He was to suffer so for
our sins.”
And then she talked
about wicked people.
She told me she was
afraid there were a
great many in the
world, and it made
her very unhappy to
see how many of her
school-fellows and
acquaintances lived.
"But," she said, "I
know the reason why
they are so wicked: it
is because they do not
try to be good—they
do not wish to be
good—they do not
ask Jesus to make them good.”
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I asked her what part of the Bible she liked best. She told me
she liked all the history of Jesus Christ, but the chapters she
was most fond of were the three last chapters of the Book
of Revelation. I had a Bible with me, and I took it out and
read these chapters to her as we went along.
When I was done, she began to talk about Heaven. "Think,"
she said, "how nice it will be to be there! There will be no
more sorrow, nor crying, nor tears. And Jesus Christ will be
there, for it says, 'the Lamb is the light thereof,' and we shall
always be with Him; and beside this, there shall be no night
there. They will need no candle nor light of the sun.”
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Revelation 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 22:5
“And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither
light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall
reign for ever and ever.”
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Dear children, just think of this poor little blind girl. Think
of her taking pleasure in talking of Jesus Christ. Think of
her rejoicing in the account of Heaven, where there shall be
no sorrow nor night.
I have never seen her since. She went to her own home in
London, and I do not know whether she is alive or not; but I
hope she is, and I have no doubt Jesus Christ has taken good
care of her.
Dear children, are you
as happy and as
cheerful as she was?
You are not blind—you
have eyes, and can run
about and see
everything, and go
where you like, and
read as much as you
please to yourselves.
But are you as happy as
this poor little girl?
Oh, if you wish to be
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happy in this world, remember my advice today—do as the
little blind girl did: "Love Jesus Christ, and He will love you;
seek Him early, and you shall find Him.
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John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God.
Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of
God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit.
Romans 10:9-10… if you will confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised
him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10 For with the heart
man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
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Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be
sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.
Ephesians 1:4-7 According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love:5 Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace;
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through
faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not
a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
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The Happy Little Girl by J.C. Ryle and other
complimentary online resources are provided by:
CTL.Today
J. C. Ryle Resources
The Duties of Parents - eBook/download: https://bit.ly/2ISII6l
Children Walking In Truth - eBook/download: https://bit.ly/2Jjj0nH
The Two Bears - eBook/download: https://bit.ly/2rg0JBy
Little and Wise - eBook/download: https://bit.ly/2rfe10y
No More Crying - eBook/download: https://bit.ly/2MAQAsj
Ryle Books: https://www.smore.com/1zv5m
gracegems.org
J.C. Ryle Sermons: https://bit.ly/2IXDmHj
This publication is offered for educational purposes only. Some
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