Savings

August 31, 2022

Gerber reminds me of a story. A young man was born in the summer of 1965. As soon as he could, the father bought a brand new Ford Mustang. Dad hired a contractor to build a garage around the new car, with no windows. When the garage was finished, he padlocked the door and put the key in a safety deposit box.

In 1997, when the child had grown and graduated from college, Dad unlocked the garage, sold the car, and said, “Son, I’m proud of you for all the scholarships you won because of your academic excellence. I realize the loans you took out to cover the rest of your college education look daunting, but this check from the sale of the car I bought at your birth should cover them.”

Gerber, I said, reminded me of that story. Whenever a child is born, the parents get a mailing from Gerber Life Insurance, suggesting you buy your new baby a life insurance policy, that can grow in value as your child grows. A friend of mine recently told me he’d bought a life insurance policy fifty years ago. Now it has tripled in value.

Jesus told his followers in John 14:3, “There are many dwelling places in my father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you.” Just as with the man who bought the Mustang and the person that bought the life insurance policy, Jesus prepared a place for us by one significant act. His death on the cross paid the price for our sins and made a way for us, by believing in him, to have eternal life.

It’s not that Jesus has to continually labor until our life is over. The work is done. Now it comes down to us. Will we accept the future he bought for us?