The Gift
There was a young boy who was a huge baseball fan. Everyday he would go to the baseball stadium of his favorite team, dressed in the team's colors, with an old, beaten cap to match. As game time neared, the boy would stare from behind the fence and watch as the people entered the stadium through the turnstiles, but he would stay outside, listening to the roar of the crowd. As much as the little boy wanted to have the gate attendant to take his ticket and climb the ramp to the stadium seats looking out on the field, he could not - for he and his family were poor and could not pay the price for admission.
Unknown to the little boy, the coach of the team would come to the stadium early each day to prepare for the game, and over the course of the season the coach had noticed the little boy standing by the fence each day, beaten glove in hand, staring through the holes in the fence. One day, as the coach arrived at the stadium, he noticed that the same little boy, beaten glove in hand, staring through the holes in the fence, but this day he noticed tears streaming down either side of the boy's face. Concerned the coach walked over to the little boy and asked, "Why are you crying, did you lose something?" The boy replied, " No sir, I am sad because everyday I walk from the shelter downtown to this stadium hoping that I might see my favorite team play, but everyday I come I am told that I cannot enter because I do not have the money to buy a ticket. " The little boy's tears and confession of his love for his favorite team touched the heart of the coach; so he told the little boy to follow him. They came to the ticket taker at the gate and the coach told him, " I am paying the admission for this little boy so that he can enter and see the game. And from now on whenever this boy shows up for a game, charge his admission to me and let him enter." With this the little boy yelled for joy and thanked the coach for his gracious gift.
We are all like this little boy. We may be at the gates of heaven, looking through the fence, hoping for an opportunity to get in. But like the little boy, we do not have the ticket, we cannot pay the fee to gain entrance because of our circumstances. Our sin keeps us out. However, our heavenly Father sees our tears, our pain, our hurt and his heart aches; he wants to pay the fee so that we can enter. So in order that we may enter the kingdom of heaven, God granted us an eternal ticket through the death and resurrection of his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. All we have to do in order to gain that eternal pass into heaven is confess that we are unable to pay our dues and accept God's gift of grace through faith and repentance. And like the little boy, we can yell and shout, for the Lord has given us the loving gift of salvation.
Have you accepted the Lord's wonderful gift to you?
