A Parable

The Necklace Story

Jesus always liked to make points with stories (parables) and I think that stories make everything more interesting, so I'm going to share with you a fun little story that I heard several years back. It's not a true story, but it does have a point to make about our trust in God.

Once upon a time, several years before your time, there lived a small family. In this family there was a mother, a father, and a little daughter. They all loved each other very much. Our story begins on the daughter's sixth birthday, when she opened her present from her dad. It was a imitation pearl necklace, and the little girl just loved it! That necklace was priceless to her, and she treasured it more than any of her other possessions. Everywhere she went, she would wear that little necklace, regardless of whether it actually went with her outfit. Month after month passed, and still she was totally attached to that necklace. In fact, each night, she didn't want to put it away, and instead slept with it under her pillow, to keep it near her.

Everything was good, but then a year later, her birthday came again. It was her seventh birthday, she got presents and everything, but none of them were particularly special. When she went to bed that evening, her dad came to tuck her in. "Lilly," the father said, for that was her name, "Do you trust me?" A little confused, she answered "Of course I trust you Dad!" Then he said "Will you give me your necklace back?" That was a big decision for her. She didn't know why he wanted it back, and so she thought about it for a minute. That minute stretched into several minutes. Finally, she said in a half-whisper, "no." So the dad kissed her goodnight lovingly, and left the room.

Every night after that, when the father would go to tuck her in, he would ask her the same questions. Every night, the girl would give the same answer, because she loved the necklace so much that she was quite attached to it, and didn't know if she could really ever be happy without it. Finally, after about a half a year, when her dad came to tuck her in as usual, and asked again for the necklace, she decided that she would give it to him. She pulled it out from under her pillow, and very slowly and reluctantly handed it to her father. The father smiled and took the necklace. He then gave her something he had bought for her on her seventh birthday: A genuine pearl necklace that looked just like her old fake one.

The End.