Rich adults and rich children too, are sometimes the most unhappy people around. True happiness does not come with having lots of money. True happiness is knowing you are at peace with God. It is knowing your sins are forgiven and following the Lord Jesus through obeying His Word, the Bible.
Tony Subelvedo’s family was rich. They lived in a nice, big house in a well-to-do neighborhood. Ten-year-old Tony only had to ask his parents for anything he wanted, and chances were his parents would get it for him. Did the many things he received make Tony happy? No. In fact, Tony felt quite lonely and wasn’t even sure his parents loved him.
So one day Tony planned a prank. The real reason Tony planned it was because he wanted attention from those around him. The way he went about getting this attention was wrong, as we will see. A much better way for Tony to have felt loved (attention is really only one part of love) would have been to realize and admit he is a lost sinner, and accept the Lord Jesus who loves him as his own Saviour. Then Tony would never feel alone and unloved again. He who said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:2020Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20)), would always be his friend.
To get attention, Tony decided to become a thief and rob one of the houses on his block. He got his friend Mikey in on the idea, and together they made their plans.
First, they studied their neighborhood and watched to see which house might be empty and left unwatched.
The next step was to figure out a way to get into the house. Tony discovered a big tree next to the roof of the house, and that gave him an idea. He could climb up the tree to the roof, then slide down the chimney into the fireplace, and then go through the house so he could open a door to let Mikey in. While he was climbing down the chimney, Mikey could act as his lookout.
Great plan, they thought! It should work! It couldn’t go wrong!
The next day they put their plan into action. Mikey kept watch while Tony climbed the tree to the roof and then scrambled across to the chimney. So far everything was working. Looking down the chimney, Tony saw it was smaller, darker and dirtier than he had expected. He found that by scrunching his shoulders together he could just fit in. Down he went, feet first. Slowly, inch by inch he worked his way down, getting scratched and scraped with every inch that he moved. Then something unexpected happened. Tony’s feet touched bottom... but he wasn’t out of the chimney and into the fireplace yet.
“Oh no,” he said to himself, “they must have their chimney damper closed!” (A damper is a little door inside the chimney near the bottom that is opened from the inside when a fire is burning, and closed later to keep birds and animals from coming down the chimney into the house.) Tony was stuck! It was impossible for him to climb back up and out. He could barely move his arms. He yelled to Mikey, “Mikey, get me out of here, I’m stuck!” But when Mikey heard that, he decided that he had had enough of being a thief and left Tony to get out of his problem alone.
Wedged in that chimney with no way out, Tony must have wondered if he would die in there.
Hours passed.
Finally, he heard people inside the house; he knew there was no escaping, so he called out for help.
The people in the house were quite startled! They quickly called the police and fire departments. When they arrived they found that the damper opening was too small for Tony to squeeze through. The firemen worked for three hours taking the chimney and fireplace apart before they were able to free Tony. Just before he was set free, Tony said, “Please don’t tell my mother!” Then a fireman carried Tony in his arms to a waiting ambulance which drove him to the hospital where Tony could be checked by a doctor.
Do you think the firemen told Tony’s mother? Of course they did, and then she knew all about it. God knows all about us too. A verse in the Bible says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:33The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3). Knowing how bad we are, He still loves us and invites us to receive everlasting life by believing on His Son. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him could not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). Even boys as bad as Tony are invited to receive this gift. That’s what “whosoever” means. Isn’t that wonderful? And that word “whosoever” includes you, too.
ML-06/08/1986