Jenny was a bright eyed, pretty five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at $5.00. She wanted that necklace and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, "Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I'll tell you what, I'll buy you the necklace and when we get home we can make up a list of chores that you can do to pay for it. And don't forget, for your birthday, Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?"
Jenny agreed and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her. Jenny worked on her chores very hard everyday, and sure enough, her Grandma gave her a brand new dollar bill for her birthday. Soon, Jenny had paid off the pearls.
Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere; to kindergarten, when she went to run errands for her mother, when visiting family and friends and even to bed when she slept at night. The only time she didn't wear them was in the shower because her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy who would read her bedtime stories at night. And on one particular night, when he finished reading her a story he asked her, "Jenny, do you love me?"
"Oh yes, daddy. You know I love you." the little girl replied.
"Well, then, give me your pearls."
"Oh! Daddy not my pearls!" Jenny insisted. "But you can have Rosie, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party set, too. okay?"
"Oh, no, darling that's okay," her daddy brushed her cheek with a kiss. "Good night little one."
A week later, her daddy once again asked Jenny after reading her bedtime story, "Do you love me?'
"Oh, yes, daddy. You know I love you."
"Well then, give me your pearls."
"Oh, daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you remember her? She is my favorite. Her hair is so soft and you can play with it and braid it and everything. You can have Ribbons if you want her, daddy." The little girl said.
"No, that okay," her daddy said and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. "God bless you, little one. Sweet dreams."
Again a week later, when Jenny's dad came to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip trembling, she said, "Here daddy," as she held out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her dad's hands.
At that moment, with one hand her daddy held the plastic pearl necklace and with the other hand, he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small blue velvet box and handed it to her. "Now that you gave me these pearls, you can have this."
Jenny took the box, "what's inside, daddy?" She asked as she slowly and carefully began to open the box she held in her tiny hands. Inside was a real, genuine, beautiful, shiny pearl necklace.
He had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap stuff so he could give her the real thing.
That's how it is with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that He can give us beautiful treasures. Isn't God good?
Are you holding onto things which God wants you to let go of? Are you holding onto harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities which you have become so attached to that it seems impossible to let go?
Sometimes, it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing... God will NEVER take away something without giving you something better in it's place. We just have to learn to let go.
