TAKE THIS CHILD
“Take this child and nurse it for me” –
So King Pharoah’s daughter spoke
To the mother, whose whole being
For her little one did ache.
So God speaks to every mother
At her helpless infant’s birth:
“Take this child and nurse it for Me
During all its life on earth.”
“Take this child, to thee I trust it;
It from thee must learn the way,
Through the earthly darkness round it,
To the light of heavenly day.”
“Take this child - and, Mother, ponder!
Yonder Heaven is yours and fair;
Wouldn’t thou be amidst its number
And thy little one not there?”
“Oh, then train it, gently, wisely,
All its Saviour’s love to feel;
And, where sin has cast its shadow,
Teach it Christ has power to heal.”
“Take this child, this richest blessing
Given to the earthly home;
“Take this child and nurse it for Me
Till to seek mine own I come.”
~ Harriet Agnes McNair, 1865
Painting: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Mother and Child