As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. 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, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angry, he raised his voice to his father and said "With all your money, you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. And as he did, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL.
How many times do we miss the Lord’s blessings and answers to our prayers because they do not arrive exactly as we have expected?
This story makes me sad. Not because this boy never got his car, but because his father gave him the gift of everlasting life, a story that would preserve his life so he could live forever in eternity, but selfishly all he wanted was the car. He missed that his father loved him enough to give him something that would be worth more than any car.
I may just be jaded from watching the political conventions. I am sickened by all the talk about prosperity, becoming rich, deserving things, being entitled, and all the negative bashing political talk going on so close to the election. Obviously my life has been flipped totally around since moving to a 3rd world country about a year ago. I see people each day working their little tails off to just make about $15 US a day. They do back breaking labor like mixing concrete by hand and lifting it by hand with a rope to a rooftop. They don't complain, they don't feel entitled and they go home to their humble little house exhausted and call it a day.
I don't know if I can ever live in the US again. It makes me so disheartened to see the greed, the waste, the spoiledness of the people. 3 trips to Starbucks is more than the people make here in the DR per day. A good salary per year is about $5,000/year (US). There are 10 million people who live on this island and there are not opportunities for them to make much more money. What I do see is people who live within their means, live humbly in small homes with no wasted space, with rooms they use every day. They aren't in debt. The didn't finance their house, they built what they could afford. And it is enough. They make it work.
Now if I were to ask any of them "Would you like to go to the US and live the American Dream?" I am sure 100% of them would say yes. This dream is really an oasis. It only looks good, but when you get up close, there is nothing there. It is over spent, financed and losing value quick. From the outside, how cool do Americans look? Driving fancy cars, eating out at nice restaurants, designer clothes, mansions with 4 car garages. But you hear of millionaires going bankrupt all the time. It isn't real. Too many are keeping up with the Jones'. Many American's are a mila-second away from bankruptcy as they have financed their life away in hope that tomorrow will pay for yesterday. All for the oasis, all in the name of "I have worked hard and I deserve it".
Back to the boy with the Bible holding a key. Now this is something that you can bet your life on. A relationship with God, a surrendering, confession of your sins, and belief that He is the only way. What is that sports car going to do for you long term? Material things only bring temporary fills. They distract from what is really important. Planet earth is satan's playground, and he loves when we lust after material things. What Jesus did for us on the cross...now that is something worth investing in. Too much time and energy is spent on material things and not enough on eternal things. Investing time, intimate time spent with God is the real key. The key to an everlasting life.
In His Grip,
Jodi
love this
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