Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty
five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the
grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at $2.50.
How she wanted that necklace, and
when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, “Well,
it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I’ll tell you
what. I’ll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of
chore that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don’t forget that for your
birthday Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?”
Jenny agreed, and her mother
bought the pearl necklace for her. Jenny worked on her chores very hard every
day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a brand new dollar bill for her
birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls.
How Jenny loved those pearls. She
wore them everywhere-to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother
to run errands. The only time she didn’t wear them was in the shower; her
mother had told her that they would turn her neck green.
Now Jenny had a very loving
daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favorite chair every
night and read Jenny her favorite story. One night when he finished the story,
he said, “Jenny, do you love me?” “Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you,” the
little girl said.
“Well, then, give me your
pearls.” “Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!” Jenny said. “But you can have Rosie, my
favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And
you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay?”
“Oh no, darling, that’s okay.”
Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Good night, little one.” A week
later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, “Do you love me?” “Oh
yes, Daddy, you know I love you.”
“Well, then, give me your
pearls.” Oh, Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do
you remember her? She’s my favorite. Her hair is so soft, and you can play with
it and braid it and everything. You can have Ribbons if you want her, Daddy,”
the little girl said to her father.
“No, that’s okay,” her father
said and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. “God bless you, little one. Sweet
dreams.” Several days later, when Jenny’s father came in to read her a story,
Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling. “Here, Daddy,” she
said, and held out her hand.
She opened it and her beloved
pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father’s hand. With one
hand her father held the plastic pearls and with the other he pulled out of his
pocket a blue velvet box. Inside of the box were real, genuine, beautiful
pearls. He had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap
stuff so he could give her the real thing.
The same with our Heavenly
Father, He is waiting for us to give up the cheap/fake things in our lives. Are
you holding on to harmful relationships, habits, activities… which you have
come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard
to see what is in the other hand but do believe one thing, God will never take
away something without giving us something better.
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