Paid in Full

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, Matthew 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 sportscar he had
desired.  On the tag was the date of his
graduation, and the words
....PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because
they are not packaged as we expected?