One evening recently, a group of people who love the Lord Jesus spent a couple of hours together singing hymns. We do this once a month, and after the singing is over several of us often meet at an ice cream store to enjoy a dish of ice cream or a malt. Does a nice large cone of delicious chocolate chip mint or butter pecan ice cream sound good? It is a nice way to finish a lovely evening.
This particular evening five of us met at our favorite ice cream store for our usual refreshing treat. The store was busy. In order for the five of us to sit together, we had to share a table with a mother and her cute little girl. We guessed the little girl must have been about three years old.
In company with her mother, and with all of us looking very much like the grandparents we were, the little girl did not think of us as strangers. She very quickly began to talk to us. She told us her name was Ashley. She also told us, “I am too big to ride in a car seat, but I always put on my seat belt.” She had been taught well by her parents about safety in the car. We soon learned her parents had correctly taught her something else that is very important for every boy and girl to know and to do.
After we had gone through the line and had gotten our favorite dessert and were seated, as we always do, we bowed our heads and gave thanks to the Lord Jesus. We thanked Him not only for loving us and dying on the cross for our sins so we could go to heaven with Him, but also for the delicious dessert and the happy time of fellowship we were enjoying.
Ashley was watching closely and noticed we had given thanks. She said to my wife, “Did you say your prayer?”
“Yes,” my wife replied, “we gave thanks to the Lord Jesus for our treat and for this happy time together.”
Ashley then replied, “I say my prayers too. I fold my hands and close my eyes tight and say my prayers . . . I don’t open my eyes either.”
Our visit with Ashley added joy to our visit at the ice cream store. It was great fun to meet such a young child whose parents had not only taught her proper safety in the car but also had taught her to say her prayers.
Have some of you children been taught, at a very early age, the verse from the Bible that says, “Be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:1515And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. (Colossians 3:15))? There are many things in each of our lives for which we can be thankful. The most important one is that God loves us and sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins.
Those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour are thankful that God has let time go on until now so that you can still believe His Word and receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. Jesus said, “He that [hears] My word, and [believes] on Him that sent Me, [has] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)). If there is one of you who has not yet made the Lord Jesus your Saviour by confessing to Him that you are a sinner, believing that He died for your sins, you also should be especially thankful that judgment has been put off this long. Today there is still time and the opportunity for you to have all your sins washed away in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus and have eternal life. The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)).
To put off believing on the Lord Jesus is very dangerous, because the Lord said, “Behold, I come quickly.” This means that He could come any moment. Then you would be left in the world for judgment while your loved ones who are saved go to heaven to be forever with the Lord. Won’t you choose the Lord Jesus now? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).
ML-01/05/1997