The Day The Twins Unpacked

by Edna Menzies

Mary Jane and her twin brother, Bob, were quarreling again. "Give me that book, Mary Jane!" Bob shouted. "You said I could read it."

"I don't care," cried Mary Jane. "It's mine! I want to read it now."

Mother hurried into the room. "Children," she said. "Stop quarreling! Mary Jane, give me that book. Now, both of you go into the living room. Your father wants to talk to you."

"Come and sit down," Father said when he saw the children. "I think it's time we had a long talk. Let's see. It's five weeks since you came to live with us, isn't it?"

The twins looked at each other. Were they going to be sent back to the Children's Home again? They moved closer together on the couch. Then Bob said, "Yes, Father. And we like living here. I'm sorry we quarreled again."

Father smiled. "I'm glad you like it here, children, because you belong to us now, you know. And we want you to belong to the Lord Jesus, too. You have been going to Sunday school and church with us every Sunday since you came. Mother and I have been praying that you would take the Lord Jesus as your Saviour."

"I've been praying, too," said Mary Jane. "Every day I pray that I'll soon be good enough so I can be saved. But I always do something bad again."

"I asked Jim Hunter if he was saved," Bob said. "Jim told me that he was baptized and joined the church last spring. Do you think I could do that too, Father?"

Father opened up his Bible. "Children," he said, "you don't understand. No matter how hard you try, Mary Jane, you can never be good enough to be saved. Listen to what God tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9. 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of works, lest any man should boast.' This means that salvation is a free gift from God. We cannot work for it.

"And, Bob, being baptized and joining the church will not save you either. For in Titus 3:5 it says, 'Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us....' The words 'works of righteousness,' mean doing good things like praying and being baptized and joining the church. God wants us to do all of those things. But first, He wants us to say that we are sorry for our sins and to ask Him to forgive us. He wants us to take the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Then we can please Him by doing all those other things."

"Do you mean we can take Jesus as our Saviour right here at home?" Bob asked.

"Yes," their Father answered. "You can do it right now, if you want to."

"We want to," the twins answered together.

Father and the twins kneeled down. The twins each prayed. They told the Lord Jesus they were sorry for their sins. They asked Jesus to forgive them and to be their Saviour. Then their father prayed that God would bless them and help them to live for Jesus every day.

"Now," Father said. "Here is a verse I want you to remember." He showed them John 1:12. The twins read, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."

"Does that mean that when we take Jesus as our Saviour, we become God's children forever?" Bob asked.

"Yes," their father answered. "God doesn't want us to do wrong. And He will help us do right, if we ask Him to. But, if we do something wrong, He will forgive us. He has told us in 1 John 1:9 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'"

"Oh," Mary Jane gave a happy sigh. "I'm so glad. I always thought that even after a person got saved, they would be lost again if they did something wrong."

"No," Father said. "Jesus tells us in John 10:28, 'I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' Jesus left us this promise in His Word so we could know that we belong to Him forever."

"I guess if Jesus is holding us, no one can take us away from Him." Bob said.

"I'm glad we belong to Jesus forever," Mary Jane said. "And I wish we could be sure that we would always belong to you and Mommy. Then we could unpack."

"Unpack?" said their father in surprise. "Aren't you unpacked yet?"

"No," said Bob. "We are just using the things you gave us. Our own things are still packed in our suitcase in the closet. We thought you might get tired of us after awhile and send us back. Then we would need our things."

There were tears in Father's eyes as he got up and took a paper from the desk. "Look, children," he said. "When your parents died we asked the judge if you could belong to us. He said, 'Yes,' and here is the paper he signed and gave to us. See! your names are written here. You belong to us. No one can ever take you away from us now."

"Oh, good," cried Mary Jane, throwing her arms around Father's neck.

Bob's eyes were shining. "Wow!" he shouted, "that's great. Come on, Mary Jane. Let's go and unpack right now!"

The twins were happy because now they were sure they belonged to their new father and mother. They were happy, too, because they knew they belonged to Jesus forever.

Boys and girls, are you sure that you belong to Jesus? Perhaps you are making Mary Jane's mistake. Are you trying to be good in order to be saved? Or are you like Bob--waiting until you are old enough to be baptized and join the church?

Don't wait any longer. If you are old enough to know that you have done wrong things, then you are old enough to be saved. You can take Jesus as your Saviour right now. And once you take Him as your Saviour, you belong to Him forever. The Lord Jesus said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5. Will you take the Lord Jesus as your Saviour TODAY? Here is a prayer that will help you.

Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned, and I am truly sorry for my sins. I thank You for loving me so much and for dying on the cross for me. Please come into my heart right now and be my Saviour. Come in today. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus."