Nutcracker
NUTCRACKER
Read Isaiah 53:3-8.
“Mom, in Bible club today we learned that some people will miss heaven when they die.” Mia was troubled as she reached for a pecan and placed it between the jaws of the nutcracker. “It scared me. What if I miss heaven?” She squeezed the ends of the nutcracker, but the nut slid out.
“You asked Jesus to be your Savior,” Mom reminded her.
Mia nodded. “Yes, but I still worry about it sometimes,” she confessed. She squeezed the nutcracker again, this time holding the pecan with her fingers. “Ouch!” she wailed as the nut again slipped away and the nutcracker closed on her finger. Tears filled Mia’s eyes, and she put her finger to her mouth. “I’m keeping my fingers out of there,” she declared.
“I’m not scared to put my finger in the nutcracker,” boasted her brother Anthony. “Look!” He put his finger in the nutcracker, but before squeezing down on it, he placed a stick beside his finger. When he squeezed down, the stick held the jaws of the nutcracker open, preventing them from touching his finger. “See,” he laughed. “It doesn’t even hurt.”
Mia made a face at her brother, but Mom said, “You’ve given us a good illustration, Anthony.” She turned to Mia. “You see, honey, Anthony’s finger deserves to be hurt since he’s being so cocky, right? But the stick is taking the punishment his finger deserves. Jesus took all our punishment. So you don’t need to worry about missing heaven.”
HOW ABOUT YOU?
If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you don’t need to worry about missing heaven. If you haven’t trusted in Jesus to forgive your sins and give you eternal life, talk to a trusted Christian friend or adult about how you can do that.
TO MEMORIZE:
He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
Isaiah 53:5
JESUS TOOK YOUR PUNISHMENT.
From the book
