Have you ever heard the cliché about the kid in the candy store? Have you ever wished you could BE a kid in a candy store? Well, I WAS the kid in the candy store. And, better yet, I didn’t need any money—my Dad OWNED the candy store!
My Dad owned what was then called a confectionary in the dinky town where I was raised. It would roughly be the equivalent of a WaWa today, only it had a real, live soda fountain with Hamilton Beach mixers and flavored syrup and sodas mixed right there, not poured from bottles or cans. And I didn’t have to pay for anything! Those were the days!
I certainly wasn’t lacking for anything. We always had the essentials, straight from my Dad’s store. He was a big man in town, partly due to his ownership of the store. I was a bit popular myself, mostly due to my Dad’s ownership of the store. I had a lot of friends that seemed excessively interested in what I could get them from the store. And, a few enemies as well, who promised not to make me eat a dead squirrel if I gave them some Fruit Stripe gum.
As Christians, we often walk through life feeling empty or powerless or anemic or deprived. Perhaps we wonder where our next meal is coming from, or how we are going to pay the medical bill or mechanic. When I was a kid, I never concerned myself with these things. My Dad always provided for his family. Hey, my Dad owned the store! It would’ve been silly, and a bad reflection on my Dad, if we sat around crying because we had no milk or bread or other essentials (or candy).
Children of God have no need to be without everything we need. After all, our Heavenly Father owns the store! Read 1 Peter 1:1–4:
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (italics added).
God supplies everything we need, and often throws in some treats as well. We can have the same joy as a kid in a candy store, knowing that our Father freely gives us all things (Romans 8:32). However, I wasn’t allowed to have ANYTHING I wanted; my parents limited me for my own good. How much more does our Heavenly Father make sure that we have all we NEED, though not necessarily all we WANT. Heavenly Father Knows Best!
When I was a senior in High School, I had to walk to school. It was several miles, and the last half or so was literally uphill. But guess what was at the bottom of that hill? Dad’s store! How refreshing it was to stop on the way, especially before the toughest part of the trek, and rest or get a drink. I could also pick up any supplies I needed for school.
God, in Christ, offers us streams of living water to refresh us on our way. He beseeches us to ask Him for anything we need. Like that kid in the candy store, we can freely partake of all the necessities of life from the Father’s store. And, He will even throw in some treats!
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW
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