No Doubt About It

Bible Reading: 1 John 5:9-13

“Mom,” said Everest, “can I walk to the store with Mrs. Kopp? I can help carry her groceries home.” Mrs. Kopp was an elderly neighbor Everest often helped.

Mom laughed. “How kind of you,” she teased, knowing Mrs. Kopp usually treated Everest to an ice cream cone on the way to the store.

As Everest and Mrs. Kopp walked along, he chatted with her about his summer plans. “I hope you won’t be too busy for vacation Bible school,” said Mrs. Kopp, smiling at her young friend. “Tell me, Everest, are you a Christian?” she asked as they reached the ice cream shop.

Everest shrugged. “I sure hope so,” he replied. “I guess I am.” He chose a double-dip, chocolate-fudge ice cream cone. “Thank you, Mrs. Kopp.”

As they were leaving, Everest’s friend Kai came in. He grinned when he saw Everest’s cone. “So you got chocolate ice cream today, huh?”

To Everest’s surprise, Mrs. Kopp answered for him. “He sure hopes so.” Both boys gave her a strange look. “He guesses so, at any rate.” Kai shrugged and turned his attention to choosing a flavor.

“Why did you say that, Mrs. Kopp?” Everest asked as they left. He took a big lick of ice cream. “I have chocolate ice cream—no hoping or guessing about it.”

Mrs. Kopp chuckled. “That was pretty silly of me, wasn’t it? Almost as silly as you saying you hoped and guessed you were a Christian.” She paused while Everest thought about that.

“Everest,” Mrs. Kopp continued, “when you have something—like an ice cream cone or salvation in Jesus—you don’t need to hope or guess you have it. You either have it, or you don’t. The question is…do you believe Jesus is God’s Son and that He loves you and died and rose again to save you? Do you trust Him as your Savior?”

“Last summer I asked Him to forgive me and save me,” Everest answered thoughtfully. “But sometimes I feel like maybe I should do something more.”

“If you trust in Jesus, God has forgiven you and you have eternal life—no doubt about it,” Mrs. Kopp assured him. “God is faithful and His Word is true. Salvation doesn’t depend on how you feel or what you do, but on our Almighty God.”

-Hazel W. Marett

How About You?

Do you ever have doubts about your salvation? Do you hope your sins have been forgiven? You can know for sure. It does not depend on your efforts or on how you feel. Jesus paid the price to save you. Trust Him as your Savior. God is faithful and will keep His promise to forgive. He will cleanse you from all your sin and give you eternal life. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)

Today’s Key Verse:
1 John 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (NLT)

Today’s Key Thought:

You can know you’re saved