Carol is a grown-up lady now, but she has never forgotten her twelfth birthday, even though it was many years ago. Her mother had said she could have a birthday party with some of her friends.
Finally school was out, and she hurried home to greet her friends as they arrived. Soon everyone was there. They played games in the basement, and everyone had a good time. It was almost time for cake and ice cream when her father came home, bringing a package beautifully wrapped with a big bow. All of the children were anxious to see what was inside. But since it was time to eat, they all sat down quietly at the table while Carol’s father asked God’s blessing on the food.
When they had finished eating, everyone tried to guess what Carol’s present was, but her father kept saying every guess was wrong. All her friends watched her unwrap it.
None of them had ever seen anything quite like this present. It was a black plastic box with levers and buttons. Her father explained that it was a tape recorder. When the buttons were pressed, voices and all sorts of sounds could be recorded. He explained that they would be able to hear what they had recorded when they played the tape back again.
Everyone listened carefully as the tape of their recorded voices was played. There was much laughing and excitement as each voice was heard and recognized. Then each one took a turn recording a message on the recorder in another room. When the last one had finished, they played it back for everyone to hear. Tina was Carol’s best friend, and her message was the last one. Suddenly the room became very quiet as Tina’s voice was heard saying, “I’m glad that I’m Carol’s best friend, because she told me about God and how He loved me so much that He sent His Son Jesus down to earth to die for my sins. I’ve learned the Bible verse that says, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin,’ and I believe it. Now I want to tell everyone how happy I am that I’ve taken Jesus as my Saviour.”
For several seconds there was complete silence in the room. Then someone said, “Let’s finish that ping-pong game,” and they soon forgot what Tina had said on the recorder.
Perhaps all the others quickly forgot, but Carol did not forget what Tina had said. Yes, she had told Tina about the Saviour, but she had never really believed it for herself. Her parents were Christians, and she had told everyone that she was too. But she knew it wasn’t really true because she had never told the Lord Jesus that she was a sinner and needed her sins washed away.
But as she went to bed that night she kept remembering what Tina had said. It bothered her so much that she couldn’t sleep, so she got up and wakened her mother and father. She told them that she wasn’t really saved and she wanted to be.
The three of them knelt down beside the bed and prayed. Carol told the Lord Jesus that she knew she was a sinner and thanked Him for dying for her sins. She knew there was nothing she could do to take them away so she could go to heaven. Now she understood that Jesus had died as her substitute, and all she had to do was accept this wonderful gift. Now she had that peace and happiness of knowing that the matter was settled once and for all.
How about you? Are you saved from your sins? Do you realize that your sins will shut you out of heaven forever? It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who can forgive your sins. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5)).
Won’t you settle the matter right now?
ML-08/08/1999