Of course, you cannot have this life, unless you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; that is as much as to say, you must accept the gift in order to have possession of it. But God offers it to you, free as the waters of the sea, free as the air of heaven. “Whosoever will, let him, take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17).)
A Sunday School teacher wanted to illustrate to the children about the gift of God, and how they might have it, so he left his desk and went ‘round among the children with his watch in his hand. He held it up as he passed before the children, and said to the first child,
“I give you this watch.”
The boy stared at it, and that was all he did. He went to the next, and repeated,
“I give you this watch.”
The boy blushed and that was all he did. And so he went slowly ‘round the class — some of them stared, some blushed, some grinned, but nobody took the watch. We may imagine one of the older, wiser boys pondering over the subject.
“How can he give us his watch! Surely he does not mean what he says. I wonder what he is after?” Finally a little fellow just reached out his hand and took the watch. The teacher let go the chain, and put the watch in the scholar’s hand. As the teacher went back to his seat, the little fellow said, very gently,
“Then if you please, sir, the watch is mine?”
“Yes, my dear boy, it is your watch.” The boys were fairly roused by this time.
“Do you mean to say, sir, he may keep the watch?”
“Certainly; I gave it to any boy who would have it.”
“O, if I had known that,” exclaimed one of them “I would have taken it!” “Did I not tell you I gave it to you?” “Yet but I did not believe you were in earnest.”
“So much the worse for you; this boy believed me and he has the watch.”
Receiving the gift of God is as simple as that. God says “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We keep thinking, and reflecting, and discussing, and wondering how He can give it, and how we can take it, instead of believing God, and saying, “Eternal life is mine,” and thanking Him for such a precious gift.
ML 10/21/1917