Ezekiel 1:4

Children Of The North Wind

A stormy wind came out of the north. Ezekiel 1:4.

I have been thinking lately that different people are rather like different winds. Some are North-wind people, some South-wind, some East-wind, and some West-wind. So I am going to speak to you about each of these winds and the people who are like them, and I hope you will be able to recognize yourself among them.

First of all, we shall have a talk about the North- wind people. I think you will find most of them among the boys, though you may find a few among the girls too.

Mr. North Wind is rather a blustering old fellow. He bursts open our doors and howls down our chimneys. He brings blizzards which chill us to the bone, and hard frosts which burst our water-pipes and crack our jugs if we are not careful. When he blows in real earnest he allows nothing to stand in his way. He snaps the bare branches off the trees, he tears the slates off our roofs, and dashes the hail against our windows. In fact, he makes a great amount of noise, and does a good deal of destruction.

So much for Mr. North Wind himself; but what about the North-wind people? Well, they are the sort of folk you hear all over the house. You always know when they are in, because they immediately signal their entrance by slamming the front door. Then they dash upstairs two steps at a time, and slam another door at the top. Their boots seemed to be more “tackety” than anybody else's; at all events, they have the gift of clattering to a marvelous extent.

These people are destructive. They seem to have little regard for mother's good carpets or for any of her treasured possessions. It is not that they really want to destroy them; they just don't think. Their manners are a little rough, and they have rather a bad habit of speaking before they think, so that sometimes they damage other people's feelings as they damage the carpets just for want of thought. Their tempers are somewhat breezy, but usually it is the case with them of a good storm and then all is over. The worst of it is that they sometimes do a good deal of destruction with these storms, and the effects are felt by others after the storms are forgotten by themselves.

But we are not going to say that Mr. North Wind has nothing but defects. Oh dear, no! He is really a decent sort of chap, and, to tell the truth, we are rather fond of him.

First of all, he is very bracing to strong people. He blows away a lot of microbes and makes our blood tingle with health. And then, if he does frighten the plants so that they hide underground, he at least gives compensation, for he brings a thick blanket of snow to cover them up and keep them cozy so that they shoot up again stronger than ever in the spring.

And then he is an out-and-out fellow. There is no deceit about him. He doesn't pretend to be anything else but what he is. As he comes rushing along he shouts, “Here I am now; look out for squalls! Build up your fires, and put on your overcoats and your thickest boots, for when I begin to blow in good earnest you know what that means.”

And he is a happy fellow. He provides us with a lot of fun in the way of skating and sledging and snowballing. In fact, we should miss him terribly if he deserted us altogether.

And neither could we get on without our North-wind people. They do a lot to cheer us up. They are a little rough in their way of doing it, but they are so happy and good-hearted that we are ready to make allowances for that. They are very straight and above-board, and are often so anxious not to appear better than they are that they succeed in making people think they are a great deal worse than they are. You would be surprised to know how tender they can be to little weak things, just as Mr. North Wind is tender to the little weak plants and covers them up with snow. It is only by chance you may discover this, because they are awfully ashamed to let other people know they have a soft spot in their hearts.

Just one word, in closing, to the North-wind people! Don't be proud of your roughness. It is nothing to be proud of. In fact if you persist in it, it will spoil and disfigure you in the end. The North Wind cannot help its roughness and harshness, because it is made that way and it comes to us over fields of ice and snow in the Polar regions. But you can help your roughness. It is something you wear on the outside. It is a habit which can be got rid of. But remember you will have to fight it, and you will have to want to fight it.

Boys and girls of the North Wind, let your good hearts tell. Don't keep them hidden away inside that hard exterior. Give yourselves into the keeping of Jesus, and He will help you to get rid of all your defects. He will make the hard places in your nature gentle, and the rough places smooth. (The texts of the other sermons in this series are Exodus 10:19; Exodus 14:21; Acts 27:13.)