Kasturi was planning a wonderful surprise for his daughter who would soon be getting married. He wanted to buy her the perfect gift. What could he get?
He lived in a small, country town many miles from the big city of Madras in southern India. After a long bus trip he arrived in the city and began his search for the special something.
At last he found just what he wanted — a beautiful, gold necklace. It cost many thousands of rupees, but that didn’t matter. After all it was for his daughter. Wouldn’t she be thrilled! After paying for the necklace, Kasturi carefully put the precious gift in his briefcase and walked to the bus station where he had a long wait before his bus came along.
It so happened that the only bus he could catch didn’t go all the way to his town. He would have to change buses partway home. Arriving at the town where he was to change to another bus, he was disappointed to learn that he had missed the last bus home that day. Now he would have to wait all night here in this strange town. But wait! Didn’t Raja, his good friend from school, and his wife Nanda live here somewhere? Of course! But how could he find them?
After much searching Kasturi at last found his old friend’s house. He was gladly welcomed by Raja who invited him to spend the night with them. Nanda cooked him a meal, and afterward Kasturi happily told his two friends of his daughter’s coming wedding. Opening his briefcase, he showed them the wonderful necklace he had bought her. Raja and Nanda looked at the wedding gift and then looked at each other with not so nice thoughts.
Later that night after Kasturi had gone to bed and they were sure he was asleep, Raja and his wife crept into his room and took his case. Back in their own room they removed the necklace from the briefcase, wrapped it up in some old clothes, and hid it in a wastepaper basket. Then after quietly replacing the briefcase beside their sleeping guest, they settled down for the night.
In the morning Kasturi was eager to be on his way, so after a cup of coffee he went to his room to get his briefcase. One quick check to make sure everything was all right. But what was this? Where was the necklace? It was gone!
“Do you know anything about this, Raja?”
“No, no. I don’t know what could have happened,” replied Raja. His wife, too, and all their children denied knowing anything.
You see, boys and girls, how one sin leads to another. First the husband and wife took something that did not belong to them, and then they told lies to cover up what they had done.
Kasturi must have felt very sad as he walked to the police station to report the theft.
“Where did this happen?” the policeman asked. “In Raja’s house? Oh, but he is highly respected in this town! We cannot suspect him!”
But Kasturi was desperate to get the necklace back, so he appealed to the Commissioner of Police for help.
The Commissioner called Raja and Kasturi and questioned them both. Then he made a decision. He told Raja to write a note on a piece of paper that would be taken by a policeman to Nanda his wife, telling her to give the policeman the necklace. If she did as requested, that would prove their guilt. If she did not produce the necklace then maybe they were innocent.
Caught in a very difficult situation Raja confessed everything and told the Commissioner that the necklace was hidden in the wastepaper basket in his bedroom.
Kasturi got his necklace back, and rushing to the bus station he just managed to catch the last bus that day going to his home town.
Just like Raja who was well known and was thought to be too respectable to do anything wrong, so many people in the world try to appear respectable to God by wearing nice clothes and going to church and doing other “acceptable” things like that. But God doesn’t look at the outside. He looks inside — at our hearts. Unless we have had our sins washed away in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, all our outward appearances count for nothing before God. As the Bible says in Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6), “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”
Come to Jesus today, accept Him as your Saviour, and know for sure that your sins are forgiven and there is a home reserved in heaven for you.
ML-12/23/1984