Lesson from the ATM

As soon as dad returned from office, Stephen ran and hugged his legs. He knew that as usual dad would refresh himself and go out. “Dad me too…me too,” pleaded Stephen holding on to his father’s hands.

“But I am not going on the motorcycle Steve… I am just going somewhere nearby,” said dad.

“I too will walk with you dad…,” said Steve as he began to walk with dad.

“Dad! Where are we going?” asked the curious Steve as dad took a turn around the corner of the street.

“We are going to the ATM center Steve,” said dad.

“What’s an ATM dad?” asked Steve who was studying in second grade and who always had an inquisitive mind to know about new things.

“We call it the Automated Teller Machine Steve. If you had money in your bank account you can draw it from the ATM at any time…” explained dad.

Steve marched a little faster to see the ATM machine room.

“Steve…What verse of the Bible did you study in Sunday school last Sunday?” asked dad.

“James 2:17 ….. Faith without works is dead”

“What explanation did your teacher give you for that verse Steve?”

They taught me that “It was not enough that I only believed; I also need to act on what I believed,” But dad I could not much understand what she meant by it.

As he was speaking they reached the ATM center. Dad pulled out the Card from his purse. “Look Steve, this is an ATM card. As soon as you put this card into the machine, it will ask you for the pin number. You need to first type pin number and then enter the amount of money you need and the machine will give out the amount of money that you have asked for” explained dad.

And while they were returning home, dad began the explanation for Steve’s curiosity… “Son, we have money in our account. We also have the card that enables us to draw the money. We also know the PIN number. But instead of pressing the important ‘ENTER’ button if we pushed the ‘CANCEL’ button we cannot draw money though we have money in our account…”

Steve nodded his head and said, “Yes dad!"

Dad used the opportunity and said, “That’s exactly how faith works too. God has given us promises. That’s like the money in our bank account. We have faith which is like the card. But we have to operate our faith and the card with the right word. That’s the ENTER button. If we don’t ‘work it’ or ‘operate it’ then it is equal to pressing the CANCEL button. Abraham not only believed God but also showed his faith in his actions. We too must not stop with just believing, we need to show our faith in action and only then we can see the fruits of our faith. Though we have faith but do not have works, it will be of no use to anyone. Have you understood it now Steve?” asked dad.

“Yes dad! Now I understood” Steve said happily.