|
The
Greatest Gift
The
young man knew that this might be the last Christmas
that he would have at home with his father.
He had just graduated from college earlier in
the month and was engaged to be married.
It would not be long before he would start his
own family and begin his new job in another city.
For
a Christmas and graduation gift, the young man had
high hopes that his wealthy father would buy a
beautiful sports car for him that he had been admiring
for several months in a dealer’s showroom.
The young man made it clear to his father
that the car was ALL that he ever wanted.
On
Christmas morning... the father called his son
into his study. He
told him how proud he was to have such a fine son and
told him how much he loved him.
Then he handed
his son a beautifully wrapped gift box.
Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young
man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound
Bible.
Angrily,
the young man raised his voice at his father and said,
“With ALL your money, you give me a Bible?!?” Then he stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible,
intending never to return.
Many
years passed... and the young man was very
successful in business.
He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family.
But, he had never returned to see his father
since that Christmas day, and he began to regret it.
Before the son could make
arrangements to go and see his father, he received a
telegram informing him that his father had passed
away. In
his will, his father had left everything to his son.
When
the son arrived at his father’s house to take care
of matters, sudden sadness and regret filled his
heart. He began to look for his father’s important papers, when
his eye caught that Bible that his father had given to
him so long ago.
With tears in his eyes, he picked up the Bible
and began to leaf through
the still NEW pages, when a key fell out of an
envelope that had been taped inside the back cover of
the Bible. The
envelope contained the return address of the same
dealer who had the sports car that he had
desired. Also
written on the envelope were the words … PAID
IN FULL!
IF
ONLY... the son had accepted his father’s gift,
he would have discovered the great love of his father,
there expressed, within the covers of the book.
IF
ONLY... the son would READ the Bible, he would
discover the far greater love of a Heavenly Father,
expressed by the greatest
gift that has EVER been given - the gift of
God’s Son (John 3:16).
God
gave this Gift to solve the greatest problem
that man has: SIN.
On the cross, the Son of God gave His life as payment
in full for the debt of man’s sin.
This Gift that brings salvation from sin has
been made available to all (Titus 2:11).
This Gift must be ACCEPTED through faith
(Acts 16:31), repentance
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confession
of Christ (Romans 10:9-10), baptism
for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), AND
continued faithful obedience to the Giver of the Gift
(1 John 1:7).
Have
YOU read about
the greatest Gift in the Bible?
Won’t you ACCEPT this Gift on His terms?
“Thanks
be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2
Corinthians 9:15).
God bless you.
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
To
Subscribe to "Living Water"
send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net
TEXT version: subscribe-livingwater-text@lyris.dundee.net
Follow
this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchsearch.org
Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website
at: www.creekwoodcc.org
|
