There's a car wash right off the interstate near our house. It's one of those that pulls your car through on a conveyor belt while you sit inside the car. There's an attendant that guides you in & then brushes your bumpers, wheels, windshield, etc. with soapy water prior to the actual car wash. Last night, I went through this car wash on the way home. The attendant was roughly 20 years old and you could tell by looking at him that he didn't have a lot of money. I tried to tip him $20 and he told me "No, I can't take that. It's too much." I told him, "Let me tell you a story about something that happened to me 40 years ago…"
I worked at one of the local grocery stores when I was in high school. A couple who were friends with my parents shopped there quite a bit. One night, I carried their groceries out to the car for them. It was rare that anyone tipped me but that night the husband tried to give me a $5 tip, which would be comparable to $25 or $30 today. I told him "No, that's too much, I can't accept that." He replied, "Son, when someone tries to give you $5, take it." I smiled and took the $5 bill. After I finished telling this story to the young man at the car wash, I told him "Go ahead, take the $20." He took it and told me "God bless you". What a wonderful lesson I learned all those years ago: when someone freely offers you something of value, take it.
God has freely offered everyone something more valuable than $5 or $20 or all the money in the world: the kingdom of heaven i.e. eternal life. Matthew 13:44-46: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." So we see that the kingdom of heaven is worth more than anything and everything we have, yet people that would gladly accept a $20 gift refuse to accept the gift of eternal life from God. Sometimes it's a result of ignorance or apathy, but there are those who prefer to live in darkness (i.e. evil). Jesus spoke these words of both mercy and judgment: "I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day." (John 12:46-48) Consider his words carefully because they have the power to save or the power to condemn.
