Today was an exciting day for Carol. It was her 12Th birthday, and her mother had promised her 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, and the party began. 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 ribbon and 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 crowded around the package and tried to guess what Carol’s present was. Carol tried to guess, too, but her father kept saying every guess was wrong. All the children watched her unwrap it. None of them had ever seen anything quite like this present. It was a black box with levers and buttons. Her father explained that it was a tape recorder. When the levers were pressed, voices and all kinds of noises could be recorded on a plastic tape inside the machine. He also told them they would be able to hear what they had recorded if they played the tape back again.
Everyone listened carefully as the tape of their recorded voices was played. There was much laughter and excitement as each voice was heard and recognized. Each one got a turn to record their voice on the recorder. Tina was Carol’s best friend, and her message was last. 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, the Lord Jesus, down to earth to die for my sins. It says in the Bible that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin,’ and I believe what it says. Now I want to tell everyone how happy I am since I have taken Jesus as my Saviour.”
For several seconds there was complete silence in the room. Many of the girls realized that they also needed to have their sins forgiven. Then someone said, “Let’s finish that ping-pong game,” and they soon forgot what Tina had said.
Perhaps all the others quickly forgot, but Carol could not forget Tina’s words. She had told Tina about the Saviour, but she had never really believed it for herself. She had grown up in a Christian home and had told everyone that she was saved. It was all pretend, though, because she didn’t really believe it in her heart. She thought she would wait until later to be saved, maybe when she was a little older. As she went to bed that night she kept remembering what Tina had said about the Lord Jesus. It bothered her so much that she couldn’t sleep, so she got up and went into her parents’ room. She told them that she had been pretending all this time and was not really saved, and she wanted to be saved now and be happy like Tina. The three of them knelt down beside the bed and prayed. Carol asked the Lord Jesus to come into her heart. The happiness that filled her heart was impossible to describe. She saw that God had given His Son to die for her sins. She knew there was nothing she could do to take away her own sins so she could go to heaven. Now she understood that Jesus had died as her substitute, and all she had to do was to accept this wonderful gift.
How about you? Are you saved? Have you ever asked God to forgive you? Do you realize that your sins will shut you out of heaven forever? It is only the Lord Jesus Christ that can forgive your sins. It’s so easy to pretend, but it’s what is real that counts with God. Don’t wait any longer! Accept Him into your heart now. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2).
ML-04/12/1981