A young man was getting ready to graduate from
college. For
many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's
showroom, and
knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all
he
wanted.
As graduation day approached, the young man awaited signs
that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of
his
graduation, his father called him into his private study. His
father told him
how proud he was to have such a fine son and told him how much he
loved
him.
He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, and
somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a
lovely,
leather bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold.
Angry, he
raised his voice to his father and said "with all your
money, you give me a
Bible?" and stormed out of the house.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in
business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family but
realized his father was
very old and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen
him since
that graduation day.
Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram
telling him his father had passed away and willed all of his
possessions to his
son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret
filled his heart.
He began to search through his father's important papers and saw
the still
gift wrapped Bible, just as he had left it years ago.
With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages.
His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matthew 7:11,
"And if ye, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
shall your
Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give to those who ask
Him?"
As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of
the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer
who had the
sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his
graduation, and
the words PAID IN FULL.
How many times do we miss God's blessings because we can't
see past our own desires??????