Daily Devotional for December 11, 2020
Not for Sale
“My Sunday school class is going to have a Christmas party!” Averi told her family on the way home from church. “Miss Weaver asked if I wanted to help with the decorations, and I said I would. I’m going to get pine tree branches, and she’ll tie some bright red ribbons onto them. She says they’ll make our classroom at church smell like Christmas.”
“Where do you think you’re gonna get them?” asked her brother. “We don’t have any pine trees in the city. We don’t even have a Christmas tree yet.”
Averi shrugged. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find some branches.”
But finding branches was more difficult than Averi had expected. Some places that sold Christmas trees didn’t have any, and others would only give her some if she bought a tree. Now what am I going to do? she wondered.
Walking home from school one day, Averi saw a pile of branches at a Christmas tree lot. She had an idea. Instead of asking for free branches, I’ll buy some, she thought. They shouldn’t cost much. Averi hurried home to get money from her piggy bank. Then she ran all the way back to the Christmas tree lot.
When Averi asked if she could buy some of the branches, she was disappointed. “They’re not for sale,” the owner told her. Sadly, Averi started to walk away, but the man called her back. “They’re not for sale!” he said again. “They’re free. Help yourself.” Averi eagerly accepted all she could carry.
As Averi helped decorate for the party the next weekend, she told her teacher what happened. “That’s a good illustration for salvation,” said Miss Weaver. “You wanted to buy the branches, but you couldn’t because they were not for sale. They were free! Some people think we have to buy—or earn—salvation by doing good deeds, but we can’t buy it. The Bible says it’s not for sale. It’s a free gift. We can only be saved from sin and have eternal life by trusting in Jesus.” Miss Weaver smiled. “I think that would make a good topic for devotions at our party, don’t you?”
Averi nodded in agreement. • Jan L. Hansen
How about you?
Are you trying to buy salvation—to earn it by being good, going to church or another place of worship, and helping others? That won’t work! The Bible tells us salvation is a gift from God. You can’t buy it—you can only receive it as a free gift. Jesus paid the penalty for your sin. You can have forgiveness and eternal life only by trusting in Him. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)
Thank you for reading this Keys for Kids devotional! Did you enjoy the story? Has Keys for Kids been an encouragement to you and your family? If so, would you please consider supporting Keys For Kids Ministries in our effort to continue to provide these daily devotionals to children around the world?