Finished

Bible Reading: John 19:28-30

Evan breathed deeply through his nose as he walked into the kitchen. “Yum!” he said, walking over to where his older sister was working. “Lemon pie!”

“Oh no you don’t!” said Camryn. “This is nowhere near finished.”

“Okay, but I’ll be waiting for it,” Evan said, then headed upstairs to do homework. When he came back later, Camryn had poured the filling into the pie shell. “Can I have some pie now?” he asked.

Camryn shook her head. “It’s still not finished,” she told him. “It’s lemon meringue pie, and it doesn’t have any meringue on it yet.”

Evan checked back one more time before dinner. “It’s finished now,” Camryn told him, “but you can’t have any yet. I baked it for dessert tonight.”

After dinner, Camryn finally brought the pie to the table. Evan scooped up and swallowed every bit on his plate. “Now the pie’s really finished,” he said, patting his stomach. “It’s all gone.”

For devotions that night, Dad read from the Gospel of John. “‘It is finished.’ Those were the last words Jesus said on the cross,” Dad said, closing his Bible. “Sounds a lot like some of the words being said in the kitchen this afternoon. A couple of times I overheard Camryn tell Evan that the lemon pie wasn’t finished yet. Finally, she said it was finished, but even then it didn’t do Evan any good. Why not?”

“Because I still didn’t get to eat it then,” replied Evan. “Her fault, not mine!”

“I don’t doubt it,” Dad said with a smile. “Well, Jesus came to earth to take the punishment for our sin. On the cross, He finally said, ‘It is finished.’ His work was done. But a lot of people are missing the full benefit of His finished work. Why?”

“Because they haven’t accepted Him as Savior,” Camryn said after a moment.

“Right,” said Dad. “To enjoy the finished pie, we had to take it for ourselves and eat it. And to enjoy the benefit of Jesus’ finished work, we have to accept it for ourselves. We have to believe and trust in Him to become a child of God.” – Hazel W. Marett

How About You?

Have you accepted Jesus and what He did for you on the cross? He finished the work of purchasing your salvation, and He offers it to you right now. Accept it by trusting in Him. (See “The ABCs of Salvation" in the column to the right.)

Today's Key Verse: John 1:12 (NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Today's Key Thought:

Accept Jesus’ finished work