A Graduation Gift

Dear Abby recorded a powerful story. A young man from a wealthy family was about to graduate from high school. It was a custom in their affluent community for parents to give their children a new car. The boy and his Dad spent several weeks visiting one dealership after another. The week before graduation they found the perfect car. The boy was certain it would be in their driveway on graduation night.

On the eve of graduation his father handed him a small package. The father said the package conatained the most valuable gift he could think of. It was a Bible. The boy threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. He and his father never saw each other again.
Several years later the news of his father's death brought the son home again. After the funeral, he sat alone one evening going through his father's possessions that he was to inherit, when he came across the Bible his Dad had given him. Overwhelmed by grief, he brushed away the dust and cracked it open for the first time. As he did, a cashier's check dated for the day of his graduation fell out. It was the exact amount of the car they had chose. The gift had been there all along but he had turned it away.

At this graduation season, gifts are certainly in order. One is to be commended and rewarded upon the completion of a job well done. However, the greatest gift to any of us is the Word of God. In its pages, a graduate commencing life can find the answers to the most perplexing problems!

Graduates - Congratulations! Job well done! Now you must remember this is just the beginning. The how,when,where and why's all lie before you. But you're not alone. Open the Book and in it you will find the keys to a happy life.

Pastor