A beautiful little boy came to live with a wonderful family. He brought such joy to the thankful Dad and Mom as they watched him grow and change. They wanted to buy him a special gift to show how much they loved him. Dad and Mom arrived home with a soft teddy bear. Little Boy was thrilled. Teddy took a nap with him, went to church with him, to Grandma’s house and slept on his pillow every night. One day, Little Boy became distracted by a fluffy cat and Puppy chewed off Teddy’s ear. Teddy lay forgotten at the bottom of the toy box.
Then Mom brought home a special book full of exciting stories. She would read it to him every night so they could enjoy the adventures together. Little Boy loved the stories and even memorized his favorite chapters. In a few months the book was no longer exciting. Little Boy forgot to put it back on the shelf at night and it became torn and dog- eared. The book lay forgotten in a dark, dusty corner of the room.
Dad brought Little Boy a new leather baseball glove. He taught him how to use it, rub oil into it to make it soft and flexible and warned him to never leave it outside. Little Boy was so happy. He spent hours playing catch in the yard with Dad and baseball with his friends. One day a bright red fire truck sped by. Little Boy and his friends chased the truck to see if there was a fire on the next street. The baseball glove lay outside all night in the rain. The next day, the hot sun baked the glove until it became hard and brittle. The baseball glove lay forgotten in the back yard by the sandbox.
More gifts followed and like the others became neglected and forgotten. Finally, little boy had nothing that brought him joy. As he looked around his room, in his toy box and out the kitchen window, Little Boy realized he was surrounded by broken, rusty toys. He remembered the joy they had brought to his life at first. He would like to feel the comfort of sleeping with Teddy, share an adventure story with Mom or play catch with Dad, but he had neglected all of his beautiful gifts. Little Boy sat and cried.
Hebrews 2:3
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
Too many times my life mirrors that of Little Boy. The excitement I experienced when I first committed my life to God begins to lessen, my Bible sits on the shelf, covered with dust and many other blessings have been used and forgotten. Tears roll down my face as I discover I am surrounded by only broken toys and memories of yesterday. I long to hear one more sermon of God’s love, feel His presence draw near as I close my eyes to sleep and again feel the thrill of His Spirit flowing through me as I raise my hands in worship. Then I realize; I CAN!!!! God has just been waiting for me to realize that the toys are broken. His arms are open wide as I run toward His loving embrace.
If you look around and find your life is a disaster and the blessings have been discarded on the trash heap of life, come back home. He specializes in repairing broken lives and restoring forgotten dreams. Don’t put it off another day; He’s been waiting for you to lay all the brokenness at His feet. He wants to turn your sorrow back to joy.
