There once was a
little girl who saved her allowance until she had enough money to buy a pretty
plastic pearl necklace. She loved that
necklace so much that she wore them every day; only taking them off to take a
bath.
One day her
daddy asked her, “Do you love me?” She replied, “Oh yes daddy, you know I love
you.” Daddy replied, “Then will you give
me your pretty pearls?” The little girl
said, “No not my pearls! But you can have my teddy bear. Daddy said, “That’s okay, I love you.”
A week later her
daddy asked his daughter again, “Do you love me?” His little girl said, “Daddy,
you know I love you!” Daddy repeated
again, “Then will you give me your beloved pearls?” “No daddy, not my pearls! But I will give you my tea set”. Daddy replied, “That’s okay, precious
daughter, I love you.”
This same
routine continued over and over again for weeks until one day the little girl
began to wonder, “If daddy loves me, why does he want to take away something I
love?”
Then one day,
with tears in her eyes, the little girl walked up to her daddy with those cherished
plastic pearls in her hand and said, “Here, daddy. This is for you.”
Her daddy
reached out a hand to take the plastic pearl necklace, and then with the other
hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a beautiful case. Inside that case was a strand of genuine
pearls that he had chosen special for his daughter many weeks before. He had been waiting for his precious daughter
to give up what she had treasured so that he could give her something even
better.
The little girl
in the above story had treasured something – but she was willing to give it up
to her loving father. She did not
understand why he kept asking her to give up what she treasured in her heart,
but she came to realize that she loved her daddy more than her precious pearls
and with a broken contrite heart she was willing to give them to her beloved
daddy.
This story made
me ponder; is there something or someone in my life that I am not willing to
give up for my Heavenly Father? Is there
anything taking God’s place in my heart? Does my busy schedule, TV time, social
media, phone, shopping, you name it - keep me from having my daily personal
time of fellowship with my Lord through prayer and bible study?
In 1
John 5:20-21 (NLT) we read, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and he
has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true
God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal
life. Dear children, keep away from
anything that might take God’s place in your heart.”
Is there
something that God is asking you to give up and you are trying to justify why you
want to “keep it”?
Dear Lord, I ask
that you search my heart, and if there is anything that is taking Your place in
my heart, may I be willing to remove it so that I can receive the best that You
have to offer – true fellowship with You!