“Sit still, Robert, do sit still!” Robert was a merry bright-eyed boy. His greatest difficulty was to be obedient, especially if asked to sit still. He was just so full of energy that he wanted to keep moving all the time.
Mr. Scott was visiting at Robert’s home, and he thought he could make Robert sit still.
“Come here, Robert. Would you like to earn fifty cents?”
“I certainly would. Do you want me to run a message for you?”
“No, Robert, but this fifty-cent piece is yours if you can sit still for just ten minutes.”
“Oh, thank you. That’ll be easy. When can I start?”
“Right now. Just sit right here, and I’ll tell you when the time is up. And here is the fifty-cent piece right on the table before you.”
What a time it seemed, but Robert sat still as a mouse, and then asked, “Isn’t the ten minutes up yet?”
“No, Robert, it’s just been one mite. Now just sit still and be quiet.”
Soon Robert bent over to scratch his foot, but Mr. Scott pretended he didn’t see him. Next he wiggled his feet, and then he squirmed sideways in his chair. By the time five minutes was gone, he had been in about fifteen different positions, and he had lost all right to the fifty cents.
“I’m sorry, Robert my boy, but you have lost all your right to that money. Isn’t that true?”
“Yes, sir, I didn’t know ten minutes could be so long, and I just couldn’t seem to stay still.”
Now, although Robert hadn’t deserved the money at all, Mr. Scott wanted him to have it so he just offered it to him as a gift. Robert was honest enough to admit that he didn’t deserve it, but he was told that he could now have it as a gift.
“Thank you, thank you. I’ll take it as a gift, even though I couldn’t earn it.”
“Now, Robert my boy, let me tell you something. God wants you and me to be with Him in heaven. He loves us, but we are sinners and have lost all right to be there by our disobedience. In fact our very disobedience had to be punished, so God sent His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to bear our punishment, and now He is in the glory above, offering to you and to me the gift of eternal life. We can’t earn it, and we don’t deserve it, but it is offered to us as God’s free gift.”
Isn’t that a wonderful gift, boys and girls? It is the best gift that was ever offered to you, and God wants you to take it from Him right now.
ML 04/12/1953