While visiting his grandparents’ farm, a little boy was given a slingshot to play with in the woods and fields. Try as he may, he never landed a single shot at the many targets that caught his attention. Totally discouraged, he headed toward the house for dinner. The fresh aroma of grandma’s fried chicken and buttery biscuits wafted across the field, adding a little hitch to his gitty-up. As he rounded the corner of the house, he spotted a new target and impulsively let the slingshot fly; the rock popped as it hit its mark. But this was not a certain knot on a tree, a bottle on the fence post or stick in the brook; this target exhaled a final breath and fell lifelessly to the soft ground---Grandma’s pet duck.
In a panic, he hid the duck behind the woodpile. Wiping the soft tears that coursed down his cheek with a dusty sleeve, he turned toward the house and to his horror saw Sally, his sister, watching, then turning slowly away without a word.
Although he’d been plenty hungry from his day in the woods, he ate very little that night. Grandma asked Sally to help with the dishes, but she quickly mentioned that Billy had said he wanted to be a helper, and then she whispered in his ear, ‘Remember the duck’. A little later, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go for a stroll and a story, but Grandma needed Sally to help with the last feeding of the chickens. Sally said that Billy really liked feeding the chickens, which he did not, all that pecking and scratching and smell; and again she whispered, ‘Remember the duck’, leaving with Grandpa on a walk to the pond.
Sally’s tormenting was even worse than his own guilt, and after several days of doing both he and Sally’s chores, Johnny couldn’t stand it any longer. He ran straight to Grandma and confessed the whole awful truth. Kneeling down and wrapping her soft arms around her grandson, she said, ‘Sweetheart, I know. I’ve known all along, I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. And because I love you, I forgave you at that very moment. I was just wondering how long it would take you to come and let me tell you and how long you’d let Sally make a slave of you.’
We all have a past. And God has this incredible window on the world that allows Him to see each and everyone. On the cross, He said, ‘It is finished’. He forgave us that very moment on that very day….and waits patiently for us to allow Him to tell us.
How long will you make Him wait….how long will you be a slave?
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Deana
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