Johnny’s Visitor
A tiny sin crept through Johnny’s open door;
“I’ll only stay a little while,” it whispered, “And before
I do any harm at all you can get rid of me,
And nobody will ever know that I’ve been here, you see.”
Now Johnny was a foolish boy, so he believed the sin,
And let it make itself at home when it had entered in.
He closed the door, and no one knew that it was there at all;
“It cannot harm,” so Johnny thought, “It is so very small.!”
But soon the sin began to grow - - a horrid growth indeed!
It made of Johnny’s heart a thing on which to feed;
It cast out everything inside, and gained and gathered strength
Till Johnny was its wretched slave, as all men saw at length.
Too late Johnny bade it go. “Why should I leave, you pray?”
“This is my home; you let me in and here I mean to stay!”
The sin replied, and tighter yet it clung, and spread and grew.
Ah! Letting in the smallest sin lets in destruction, too!
Frances Hanson