The Dusty Doll!  (Read Romans 8:31-39)

As Kara said good-night one evening, her mother noticed that she seemed upset. "I've been kind of worried lately, Mom," Kara confided hesitantly. "After I asked Jesus to save me, I was really happy for a while. But...I've sinned lots of times since then-like when I got so mad at Jason tonight. I asked God to forgive me, but I'm sure he isn't happy with me. And what about the times I sin without realizing it, or when I forget to ask God to forgive me? Am I still saved?"

Mother hugged Kara. "Jesus' death paid for all our sins," she said. "And Jesus himself said, 'No man is able to take them'-Christian-'out of my Father's hand.' He won't disown you after you've trusted in him."

"I guess that's true," said Kara with a sigh, but she didn't look convinced.

As Mother glanced around the room, she noticed a porcelain doll on Kara's dresser. "I see you've cleaned up that doll," she said. "Tell me again where it came from."

Kara smiled. "You know, Mother," she replied. "Mrs. Knott put it out with the trash. It was covered with mud and garbage. I cleaned it up and dressed it in new clothes. It looks great now, don't you think?"

"Yes," Mother agreed. "It's beautiful-enjoy it while you can. This room gets pretty dusty this time of year, you know. Soon your doll will be covered with dust, and then I suppose you'll throw it away."

"Throw it away!" exclaimed Kara. "Are you kidding? Even if it did get dusty, it could never look any worse than it did when I found it. I'd never throw it away after all the work I did to get it cleaned up. I'll just clean it off whenever it needs it."

Mother smiled. "I thought you'd say that," she said. "Honey, God loves you so much more than you love that doll. He's not going to just 'throw you out' now-not after all he's done for you."

How about you? - Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin? If so, you don't need to worry about losing your salvation. Trust God and believe his promises so that you can always know the peace of forgiveness and the joy of fellowship with him.

Key:  Salvation Is Forever

Memorize: "Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:39

This is out of the book "The One Year Book of Devotions for Kids"  BUY IT  Copyright @ 1993 Children's Bible Hour

Updated 3/19/01