“O, there’s an angel in this stone,” said he, “and I must get it out.”

He bought that block; had it removed to his studio, and then went to work with his mallet and his chisel, and never rested till out of that rough, unshapen mass of stone he made a beautiful marble angel.

Now, every child born into our world is like such a block of marble.  The only difference is that children are living stones—­marble that will last forever.  And when we bring our children to Jesus, and by his help teach them to love and serve him, we are doing for them just what Michael Angelo was doing for his block of marble—­we are getting the angels out of the stones.  And this is what Jesus loves to have us do.

“How to Get the Angels Out.”  A Christian mother, whose children had all been early taught to love and serve Jesus, was asked the secret of her success in bringing up her children.  This was her answer:—­“While my children were infants on my lap, as I washed them day by day, I raised my heart to God that he would wash them in that blood which cleanseth from all sin; as I clothed them in the morning, I asked my heavenly Father to clothe them with the robe of Christ’s righteousness; as I provided them food I prayed that God would feed their souls with the bread of heaven, and give them to drink of the water of life.  When I prepared them for the house of God I pleaded that their bodies might be made fit temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in.  When they left me daily for the week-day school, I followed their youthful footsteps with the prayer that their path through life might be like that of the just, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day.  And night after night, as I committed them to rest, the silent breathing of my soul has been, that their heavenly Father would take them under his tender care and fold them in his loving, everlasting arms.”

Let Christian mothers follow this example and they will not fail to bring the angel out from every block of living marble that God has given them.

“The Best Time for Doing This.”  A faithful minister of Christ had a dear only daughter.  She had been a thoughtful praying child.  When only twelve years old she had joined her father’s church.  She now lay on her dying bed.  “As I sat by her bedside,” says her father, “among the things she said which I shall never forget were these:—­’Father you know I joined the church when I was young—­very young.  Some of our friends thought that I was too young.  But, oh! how I wish I could tell everybody what a comfort it is to me now to think of it.’  Then reaching out her hand—­the fingers were already cold—­and grasping mine, she said with great earnestness:—­’Father, you are at work for the young.  Do all you can for them while they are young.  It’s the best time—­the best time.  Oh!  I see it now as I never did before.  It is the best time—­while they are young—­the younger the better.  Do all you can for them while they are very young.’  And then she fell asleep in Jesus.”