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A young man was getting ready to graduate
from college. For many months he had admired
a beautiful sports car in a dealer's
showroom. Knowing that his father could well
afford it, he told him that was all he
wanted. As graduation day approached, the
young man awaited signs that his father had
purchased the car.
Finally, on the morning of his graduation,
his father called him into his private
study. He told him how proud he was to have
such a fine son and how much he loved him.
He then handed him a beautifully-wrapped
gift box.
Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the
young man opened the box and found a lovely
leather-bound Bible with his name embossed
in gold on the front.
Angrily, he raised his voice to his father
and said, "With all your money, you
gave me a Bible?" Then he stormed out
of the house, leaving the Bible and his
father behind.
Many years passed and the young man became a
very successful businessman. He had a
beautiful home and a wonderful family. One
day he began to think of his father and,
realizing that by now he must be very old,
he decided he would go and visit his father.
The two had not seen each other since the
son had stormed away on his graduation day,
but before he could make arrangements, he
received a telegram telling him his father
had passed away, and that he had willed all
his possessions to his son. He needed to
come home immediately and take care of
things.
Sudden sadness and regret filled his heart
as he reached his father's home. As he began
searching through his father's important
papers, he saw the still-new Bible, just as
he had left it years ago. With tears in his
eyes, he opened it and began to turn the
pages.
His father had carefully underlined the
verse, Matthew 7:11, "And if ye, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more shall your heavenly
Father which is in heaven give to those who
ask Him?"
As he read these words. a car key dropped
from the back of the Bible. The key had a
tag attached, which had the same dealer's
name that had owned the sports car he had
desired. On the tag was the date of his
graduation and the words "PAID IN
FULL!"
How many times do we miss God's blessings
because they are not packaged as we expected
them to be?
May we always yield our lives to the
Lord so completely that we can confidently
leave the packaging up to Him, knowing that
He always does what is best for us, and that
we can trust Him to keep His promises and to
meet our every need.
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