The Expired Coupons

"Jesus loves each and every one of you," said Mrs. Anderson, Kiera's Bible club teacher. It was the end of the meeting and everyone had their heads bowed for the closing prayer. "He died on the cross and rose again to save you from sin and give you eternal life. Won't you accept His free gift of salvation? Someday it will be too late." Kiera squirmed in her seat. "If you'd like to be saved tonight," Mrs. Anderson continued, "will you raise your hand and let me know? I would like to pray for you and talk with you about it."

Maybe I should raise my hand, but what will the kids think if I do that? Kiera wondered. I'll think about it, she decided. I can always talk with Mrs. Anderson or Mom later. Maybe I'll wait till I'm older. I'm just a kid. I have plenty of time. She left her hand down.

When Kiera got home, she helped her mother put away groceries. Then Mom took some coupons out of her purse, sorted through them, and threw several into the wastebasket. "Don't you want the stuff those are good for?" Kiera asked.

"Yes, but I goofed," said Mom. "I was going to use those coupons at the store tonight, but when I got them out, I noticed they had expired a few days ago." She sighed. "They would have saved me quite a bit of money. I should have used them last week. Now it's too late!"

Kiera went to the living room and sat down on the couch. There were those words again--"too late"--the same words Mrs. Anderson had used.

As Kiera thought about it, she made an important decision. Jumping to her feet, she went back to the kitchen.

"Mom!" she exclaimed. "Mrs. Anderson said that someday it will be too late to accept Jesus' gift of salvation. You missed the chance to use your coupons, but I don't want to miss the chance to be saved. Will you help me?"

Mom hugged her close. "I sure will! Now I'm glad I missed the chance to use those coupons since it made you realize that you need to trust in Jesus before it's too late." Linda M. Weddle