I’ve had this idea how boys and girls can make a lot of money, and it would be easy—if it worked. Let me explain my idea, then you think about it and decide if you want to try it:
(1) You know how people buy Christmas trees before Christmas, even up to Christmas Eve. Sometimes people spend as much as $50 for a really nice tree.
(2) They put it up in their house, decorate it, and there it is with its lights. It’s beautiful.
(3) Then Christmas comes, everybody opens their presents, and then a couple days after Christmas, the tree becomes a nuisance. They want to get rid of it.
(4) Usually by New Year’s Eve, they have carried that beautiful, expensive Christmas tree out and dumped in it on the sidewalk so the truck can cart it away.
(5) Now, here’s my idea. You see if it will work—if you can make a lot of money this way:
(6) You pick up those trees (they’ll be glad to have you carry them away), and then you go door to door, ring the doorbells, and tell the people something like this:
“Hello, I’m So-and-so. I have a great bargain for you. I am selling Christmas trees for a lot less than they were just a few weeks ago. This beautiful tree probably cost $40 to $50, and I can sell it to you today for half that price. Look, you can see, it’s as good as new. Wouldn’t you like to buy it at this great saving?”
Well, what do you think?
If you are big enough to go door-to-door and ring people’s doorbells, I think you have already decided that my idea just won’t work. You are smarter than I am!
It’s not that the trees aren’t still nice, for they are still beautiful; and it’s not that they didn’t cost a lot of money at first. They did. The problem is that the time for Christmas trees is over, it’s finished; nobody wants to buy Christmas trees now since Christmas has already passed.
The point is this: there is a time for this or that, and when that time has passed, it’s not time for that any more.
And there is a time for us to give our heart to Jesus, to respond to His call.
There is a time for Him to call us by His Holy Spirit; and there is a time when He no longer calls. It’s like a special sale that is on. If you want the bargain, you must go before the sale is over.
The Bible tells us about that: “When the time comes to save you, I will show you favor” (Isaiah 49:8). And this is repeated in the New Testament like this: “When the time came for Me to show you favor, I heard you, I helped you. Listen! This is the hour to receive God’s favor; today is the day to be saved!” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Yes, yes! The Holy Spirit is speaking to your hearts today. “Listen!” Say “Yes!” to Him now. You will make Him very happy; and He will make you very happy.