A Treat
We have a one and a half year-old Burmese kitten named Jonah. Like most kittens his age, Jonah can be a pain in the neck as he learns good and wrong behaviours. A few minutes ago, he came and lay down beside the desk where I am working and just sat and watched – he didn't chase after the moving letters on the computer monitor screen. I told Jonah he was a good boy and gave him a treat – a special little lump of food he likes.

Our loving Father in Heaven gave his children a treat when he gave us his Son. He didn't do this because we are always good. In fact we are many times just the opposite. But God loves us and through His grace, he sent His Son to die for us, taking all our sins with us. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that “It is by grace you have been saved through grace, not of works.”

God’s treat, His grace, is a treat to end all treats: salvation, life forever in Heaven with Him. We can’t earn it. All we have to do is to confess our sins and repent, believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He was raised from the dead. And we have the privilege of telling others of our belief.

That’s more than a treat. That is forgiveness on God’s part, something that we have not deserved but that we are free to accept.

Have you accepted Jesus. Why wait?

By Jim Newell, Glen Acres Baptist Church, Waterloo