I wonder how “good” I really am? I have my faults I know, but do you think I’m good enough to please my Creator in Heaven? Or are there some days when He’s looking down on me and saying: “Oh that bird’s gnawing the furniture again!” or “He’s stealing from the fruit bowl!”
And is there really a dark force out there called Satan? Is it because of him that I get the urge to do things which I know to be wrong? Do I oscillate backwards and forwards between the two of them because I’m not strong enough to stay on God’s side? Is my free will my downfall? Will I be good enough to get into Heaven? Questions, questions, questions.
But actually, I’m not the only one asking these questions. Even human children are not too certain about the scheme of things here on Earth….
On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big Horse Chestnut tree growing inside the perimeter wall of a cemetery. One day, two boys went there to collect conkers. The tree had enjoyed a very fruitful season, and before long, the boys had filled several buckets to the brim. So they sat down, out of sight at the base of the tree and began dividing up their conkers.
“One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me” said one of the boys. As they were dividing them up, a couple more conkers fell down to the ground and rolled down an incline to the base of the wall.
And at that moment, another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle on the other side of the wall. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery, so he slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard: “One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.” This boy jumped back onto his bicycle and raced home. His mother was out on an errand, but his little brother was playing on his trike in the garden. “Come quickly” said the boy to his brother. “You won’t believe what’s going on at the cemetery. Satan and the Lord are busy dividing up all of the dead souls between them!”
So quickly and quietly, the two brothers cycled to the cemetery and stopped by the wall.
Photo credit: Pixabay
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