The Richest Heart

Chapter 41

An ache of pain made Emma's ankle throb. She gripped her bedpost with a miserable whimper and then sank back down onto her bed.

"Why did this have to happen?" she wondered in self pity. "I only have a few more days to spend in the city! I didn't want to twist my ankle!" But she had, and there was nothing she could do to change it now. Over and over, she had wished that things could have turned out differently. Why couldn't she have stepped a little bit more carefully? Better yet, why couldn't Anastasia have chosen a nicer play to watch? If it hadn't been for that haunting story, she wouldn't have been running so fast. The girl let out a defeated sigh. She was stuck. It hurt too much to take a step, let alone to make her way downstairs. Her stomach growled hungrily. Soon it would be time to eat breakfast, but she wouldn't be in the dining room. Would she have to stay in her room all day without a meal? She was about to feel very pouty. I think she would have even started crying, but, before she could pity herself any more, she saw her Bible laying on her nightstand and she snatched it up eagerly.

Oh, the Bible! Without even realizing it, her soul had been craving its words. She could bear to go

without a meal, but one thing was certain; she could not bear to go without the peace and joy of thinking about Jesus. She opened the book in a hurry, letting the pages fall open wherever they wanted to. Then, something small and white fluttered out and dropped on her lap. Her eyes looked down at it in surprise and her mind flew back to a memory. For half a second, she could see the strange tramp walking by the train tracks. After she had rescued that important paper, she had determined to give it back.

"I wonder what it says," she thought, biting her lip and trying to resist the temptation to open it. "Oh, I wish I knew!" She fought with herself a little bit longer, but, soon reason came in to justify her. "Well..." she began inside. "It might not hurt anything. Besides, I probably won't even see that man again. Even if I did, he wouldn't stop to talk to me." She lifted the paper slowly, then her curious fingers unfolded it. Feeling excited, she looked down at the elegant letters it held. There were only a few words, but as she read them, her heart fluttered with a strange feeling. It was a Bible verse that read:

Keep your heart with all diligence.

Emiline stared down at the paper for a long time, feeling almost sad.

"Oh Jesus," she began to pray. "I know I haven't done that lately. I'm so sorry! It's been so hard! I haven't known what to do!" She thought back on the things she had done the week before. She felt guilty about the way she had dressed and the things she and her friends had done. She had always known that they weren't good things. But, at the time, she hadn't seen a way to get out of them. She had been too afraid of offending Anastasia and looking silly. Now, her heart filled with sorrow. Hurting Anna's feelings wouldn't have been pleasant, but she had done something worse; she had hurt Jesus' feelings by being naughty and forgetting all about him for a while.

"Please forgive me, Lord!" she prayed. "Help me to keep my heart with all diligence and to do better from now on." There was a feeling of peace and hope as she said those words. She knew that she had done some wrong things, but since she was sorry about them, she could start again. She could put all of that behind her and move forward. She smiled as she remembered one of her favorite Psalms and quoted it to herself.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God. And renew a right spirit within me." She knew that Jesus would answer that cry. He would forgive her and wash her clean. And, now that she had learned her lesson, she would know how to stop herself from repeating her mistakes. She had to keep her attention fixed on Jesus and she couldn't allow herself to do things that would make him upset.