SUSAN’S birthday was getting near, and her sister Betty was trying hard to think of a present for her. A hook? She seemed to have so many hooks already. A pen? Her pen was still working fine, and she didn’t seem to need a new one.
At last she thought of it. She would get her a new purse. Eagerly she set out to get one, and came home with the nicest little purse you ever saw. She was so thrilled about it that she could hardly wait for Susan’s birthday to come around. At last the wonderful day arrived, and Betty was almost as excited as her sister as the tissue paper was folded back, and the purse was lifted out of its box.
“Oh, Betty, this is just lovely. It is Just what I wanted and needed. Thanks ever so much.” Betty was given a big kiss, and Susan went off to school delighted with her purse and her other gifts too.
During the day Betty kept thinking of the purse. What a beauty it was! How she wished she had one like it! After thinking this way for a day or two, she decided that she wanted the purse even more than her sister, and perhaps she ought to take it back again. And so you will be surprised to hear that she went to her sister’s room one night and quietly took the purse out, and put her own things in it.
You may imagine what happened in the morning. “But, Betty, surely you gave it to me for keeps.” “Well, yes, maybe, but after all I paid for it, and I liked it so much.”
I think you will agree that it was quite right for Betty’s mother to interfere a bit and remind her that the gift had most certainly been “for keeps,” and that she had no right at all to take it back. I don’t ever remember anyone’s taking back a birthday present of mine, and I wouldn’t like it to happen either.
Do you know the best gift I ever received? It was the gift of eternal life and it was for keeps too! Yes, that wonderful gift came from God Himself, just because He loved me. It cost Him a great deal more than any birthday gift ever cost anyone, for He had to give up His own dear Son into death in order that He might offer it to me. And I am so very glad that it is for keeps, and that His Word is so very clear about it too. Listen to what He says:
Have you received God’s gift yet? He will not always offer it to you, for the Lord is coming soon, and all who have refused God’s wonderful, free gift will perish forever.
Messages of God’s Love 12/29/1957