Bible Reading: John 3:16-18
Seeing the gigantic merry-go-round, Harper and Violet squealed in excitement and ran ahead of Mom and Dad to the entrance. They stood next to the height chart. They were both tall enough.
"Whoo-hoo!" Harper clapped her hands in excitement.
The merry-go-round came to a stop and the riders got off. Harper and Violet were about to dash through the gate when someone's arm blocked their way. "Hang on, kids. Not so fast." It was the ride operator.
Harper and Violet gave each other a puzzled look when the operator let other kids go past them and get on the merry-go-round. "Why can't we ride?" asked Violet. "We're tall enough!"
Just then Mom and Dad walked over. "Finally caught up with you!" Mom said.
"Mom," Harper said, her face full of disappointment. "He wouldn't let us on. Why?"
Dad reached into his pocket and pulled out four small pieces of paper. "Here, you need your tickets."
Harper and Violet each grabbed one and brought it to the ride operator. He opened the gate and let them in. They each picked a horse to ride on, bouncing up and down on them excitedly. Mom and Dad gave their tickets to the operator and got on too.
"You know," Mom said thoughtfully, "this reminds me of something Jesus said. There is no other way to heaven except through Him. Tell me, why couldn't you ride the merry-go-round at first?"
"We didn't have our tickets," Violet replied.
"And why was that?" asked Mom.
"We just thought we needed to be tall enough," said Harper. "We didn't know we had to have tickets for it."
"Right," Dad said. "You couldn't ride the merry-go-round without a ticket, and you can't have eternal life without Jesus. It's a gift you need to receive from Him. There's nothing you can do to get to heaven on your own. Your only ticket is to trust Jesus as your Savior, who paid your way by dying for your sins and rising from the dead."
Soon the merry-go-round started moving. "I'm glad I have my ticket for the merry-go-round," Violet said as their horses moved up and down. "But I'm even happier I have Jesus and that one day He'll take me to heaven!"
–Goh Su En and Goh Shao En
How About You?Have you ever thought that you could be or do enough to get to heaven on your own? You can't. There is only one way to be saved from sin and have eternal life, and that is through Jesus. We all mess up, but Jesus lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose again so we could have eternal life with Him. Trust in Him today! (To learn more, click the "Good News!" button in the right column of this page or go to www.keysforkids.org/goodnews.)
Today's Key Verse:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (NIV) (John 14:6)
Today's Key Thought:
Jesus is the only way to heaven