When Robert was a young boy, he lived in the country. Behind his house there was a great, big garden. And in that garden there were large, ripe watermelons every summer.
One hot summer day, Robert walked through the watermelon patch. As he looked at the melons he wondered what it would be like to have a whole one all to himself. He thought it would be lots of fun to eat one. There were some ripe ones on the vines that he could easily reach. The longer he looked at them, the more he wanted one. Finally, he carefully stepped among the vines and picked off one of the larger ones. Then he hurried over the fence and took the melon behind an old stump.
In his pocket he had his new jackknife. He used it to cut open the melon. Then his eyes got big and his mouth began to water when he saw the nice pink, juicy inside with big black seeds. He ate all he wanted.
But now he couldn’t finish it! What was he going to do with what was left, and what would he do with all the seeds? If he left them lying around, someone surely would see them. So Robert dug a hole right beside the stump and buried them. He did not leave a single seed uncovered. In his heart he thought, “Now no one will ever know!”
What do you think, boys and girls? Would anyone ever know?
The next day Robert carefully carried another melon back behind the stump and ate part of it. They were so good that each day it was a little easier for him to take another one.
At the supper table one evening everyone was happily talking tether until Robert’s father said, “I just can’t understand what’s become of so many of my nice melons. I think somebody is stealing them!”
Robert’s heart felt sick, and he could feel his face getting red. He didn’t dare look up. He felt ashamed of himself when he heard that word “STEALING!”
Somehow Robert was sick of melons after that. He wouldn’t even take a slice at the dinner table. He looked at the old stump many times, but not a trace of his feasts could be seen. Even in the winter when the snowdrifts had covered the old stump, Robert couldn’t forget the melon patch. Do you know why? He knew what he had done was wrong!
One morning the next spring Robert’s father asked him to go for a walk. Robert was glad to go. But why did his father go over the fence and right toward the old stump?
Oh, now he knew why! All around the old stump were young watermelon vines all crowded together and growing all over each other. It looked like every buried seed had become a vine!
Robert’s father said, “Son, the other day when I was passing here I saw something shiny sticking up through the ground. It was your jackknife that you looked for all winter.” And he took the knife out of his pocket and gave it to Robert. Then looking sadly at Robert he said, “I’m afraid the old stump wasn’t very good at keeping the secret.”
Robert’s father loved the Lord Jesus, but Robert was not saved. God used this experience to show him that he was a sinner and needed a Saviour. Soon after he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his own Saviour. Have you accepted Him as your Saviour? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
ML-01/11/1981