Gretchen was me eight-year-old daughter of the printer in whose shop Martin Luther was having his German Bible printed. She spent a lot of time in the shop and was beginning to learn to spell.
One day while in the shop, she picked up a little piece of paper which had these words on it: “For God so loved the world, that He gave....” These were the only words on the paper, but they were happy words to her. She had been taught that God was a great and fearful judge. This thought scared her. But here on this paper it said that “God so loved the world, that He gave....” What a wonderful thing! She had never heard anything like that before. To think that God loved the world was something quite new to her. She had only thought of Him as being very angry with the people of this world and of wanting to judge them and send them to hell.
She hid the piece of paper in her dress, but during the days that followed she would read it again and again. “God so loved the world, that He gave....” She wondered what it was that He gave. She didn’t realize it, but just the thought that God did love changed her whole life.
One day her mother said to her, “Gretchen, what has happened to you? What makes you so happy, child? You are so happy and cheerful lately.”
Gretchen took out her little piece of paper and showed it to her mother. “It’s the words on this scrap of paper that have made me so happy,” she said.
Reading it she said to Gretchen, “I don’t understand. Gave what? What did God give? Where did you get this scrap of paper?”
“It’s from God’s book,” explained Gretchen.
“I still don’t understand,” said her mother. “I don’t see how you can be so happy with what’s written on that paper. You don’t know what God gave.”
“Oh, Mother,” said Gretchen, her face lighting up even more than before. “I don’t know what He gave, but if God so loved the world that He gave anything, I will never be afraid of Him again!”
Gretchen had discovered the secret of secrets, although she only knew about half of the story. I hope she soon learned to know what we know: that it was His Son that He gave. God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son, His well-beloved who took the punishment for all our sins. This is the way God loves you. Does it make you glad?
ML-01/26/1986