Years ago I heard about a boy, Johnny, who went with his sister, Mary to visit their grandparents at their farm.
The grandmother had a pet duck of which she was extremely fond. It was a handsome duck, and one day, as Johnny was playing, he aimed with his slingshot at the duck and hit the duck right on the head. The bird toppled over, kicked a few times and died. Johnny was frightened. He looked around and saw no one, so he grabbed the duck and ran into the woods. He dug a hole and buried the duck, and then he went back to the house. No one seemed to have noticed.
Johnny and Mary always divided the chores, and that evening it was Mary’s to do the supper dishes. But after supper Mary turned to Johnny and said, “You do the dishes tonight.” “No,” he said. “This is your night. I am going out to play.” Mary said, “I saw you kill that duck. If you don’t do exactly what I tell you to do, I will tell Grandma what you did. And you know what that means. It was her prize duck.” “Alright,” said Johnny. “I’ll do the dishes.”
The next time that it was Mary’s turn, the same thing happened. This continued for two weeks. Every time that Johnny complained, Mary said, “Johnny, remember the duck.”
At last Johnny could stand it no longer, and he went to his grandmother. Johnny stood around and twisted his ear and bit his nails. Finally he said, “Grandma, there is something I have to say.” “What is it, son?” she asked. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to say, Grandma,” he said. “Two weeks ago I was playing with my slingshot and I shot at your duck and killed it.”
Wiping a tear from her cheek, the grandmother reached out to him and said, “Come here, son.” She put her arms around him. “I was sitting upstairs by an open window, and I saw you kill the duck.” Then she said, “I wondered how long you were going to take this bondage to Mary. I’ve watched her give you orders for two weeks, and I wondered when you would come to me.”
Our heavenly Father has seen everything that we have done. He is waiting for us to come and confess our sin, to acknowledge it and to say, “God, here I am. Forgive me. I want to be free. I want a fresh start. I want a new beginning. I want a new birth. I want to be Yours from this moment on.”
My favourite verses in the Bible are John 8:32,34,35,36. The one question that I want to ask you is: do you want to have the kind of freedom that lasts for eternity? Well, you can if you have freedom in Christ. You can ask Him to be your Saviour by praying the following prayer:
“Dear God, I love you very much indeed. I am a sinner. I am so sorry for my sin. I am willing to turn from my sin. I want to receive Jesus as my Saviour; I confess Him as my Lord. From now on I want to follow Him in the fellowship of His Church. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
If you know deep down in your heart that there is a loving God watching over us, then don’t waste time and just say this prayer today! Don’t worry if you have questions and doubts, because those are things we can always get the answers to!
God bless you and keep on keeping on…
Tony Anthony