This story by an unknown author illustrates a critical truth you can't afford to miss. If you read the article that follows, your life may be changed forever!

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A  young man was getting ready to graduate from college.

For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him.

He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible? and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.

Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.

With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, "And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly father which is in heaven, give to those who ask Him?"

As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL.

 This story by an unknown author teaches a great lesson.

It's a reminder that YOU may be missing out on the best gift of all! If you read to the bottom of this page - get ready for a surprise! What you learn in the next few minutes may change YOUR life forever when you discover the gift that is waiting for you!

You see, God wants to give brand new lives to those who recognize their need!

To receive the new one, we must realize our old one is completely messed up. What messed it up? Sin. That means living our lives on our own as though there was no God to Whom to give an account.

With this attitude we believe we have a right to our own lives... to do with them what we will, when we will, and with whom we will.

Sin means we're sitting on the throne of our lives instead of God! Here are some of the results of sin: boredom, anger, emptiness, hopelessness, guilt, unhappiness, broken relationships and anxiety.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "As the Scriptures say, No one is good--not even one." (Romans 3:10). "There is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Romans 3:12b).

After reading these verses, how many people do you think God sees as good on their own?

None. Zero.

Suppose I had a huge traffic fine. The judge has to make me pay the fine, otherwise he's not a good judge. But then someone pays my fine for me.

In a much much greater way Jesus took the punishment sinners deserve.

From 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 we learn that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish (be lost), but have everlasting life."

"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleans us from all sin"(1John 1:7).

The Bible presents the final outcome of rejecting God's cure for sin:

"If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire"(Revelation 20:15).

God is holy and just! He is the ultimate Judge. What would you think of an earthly judge letting a convicted murderer get off without any punishment? That would be unjust! However, God did find a way to uphold justice and be forgiving at the same time. How? He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. Jesus Christ took our sentence.

People have tried many ways to earn merit with God. They have the futile hope that their good works will outweigh their bad deeds. But this cannot work!

Here's why. It's like trying to jump to the moon on our own power! Professional athletes can jump much higher than ordinary citizens, but even they cannot jump to the moon by themselves.

We can't earn our way to heaven either.

Sin pays a salary - it's death!

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Death means eternal separation from God! Since those who reject God do not want Him in their lives now, God lets them be without Him forever.

But there is good news! The greatest news of all time!  God gives eternal life to lost sinners because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Imagine that a wealthy uncle wants to give you the gift of a five million-dollar mansion just because he loves you. You are thrilled, of course, but decide that you want to pay for it instead.

So you reach into your pocket and pull out a penney. You offer it to him and say, "Thank you so much for wanting to give me a mansion, but I can't possibly take it as a gift. I want to buy it from you. Here is a penney as the purchase price. Now we should be even."

Try to imagine how the giver would feel after offering such an expensive gift to have it devalued that way. What an insult!

Eternal life is far beyond our reach to try to earn because we can't afford it, but God gives eternal life to us by the purchase price of Christ's blood! Christ paid His all so we could go free!

When Christ brings us new life, we are given the key to unlock and open any dungeon in which we have lived -- such as the dungeon of fear, addiction, hopelessness and boredom!