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 beautiful wrapped gift
box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the
young man opened the box and found a lovely,
leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name
embossed in gold.
Angrily, he raised his voice to his father
and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?"
and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.
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-new 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, Matt 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 they are not packaged as we expected?