Emma’s Chocolates

"Mom, I asked my friend Rae if she was a Christian," Sarah said as she and her mother were relaxing on the back porch. "She thinks she is because she goes to church all the time. I told her that didn't make her a Christian, but she didn't believe me. I didn't know what to say.""It's sometimes hard to convince people that going to church doesn't make them Christians," said Mom, "but don't give up. Try to help her see that it's not what we do that makes us Christians, it's what Jesus did for us when He took our sins upon Himself and died on the cross." "Okay, Mom. I'll keep praying for Rae and try to help her understand that she needs Jesus, not just a church. It's just hard to know what to say because she thinks she's right."Sarah's little sister, Emma, left her swing set and walked up to the porch. In her hand she clutched a pretty box. "Mommy, I have some chocolate candy for you," she said, holding out the box."Thank you, sweetie," said Mom, taking something from the box."You can have one too," Emma told her big sister, passing her the box.Sarah stretched out her hand to take one. She had seen that the "chocolate" Mom had taken was really a stone, but she decided to play along. "Are these chocolates any good?" Sarah asked, looking at the stone she had taken from the box. "They seem awfully hard. Maybe they're stale.""They're good chocolates!" Emma insisted. "Look, Sarah!" With a grubby little finger, she pointed to the pictures of big creamy-looking chocolates on the cover of the box. Then she turned and ran down the porch steps.Sarah laughed. "I hope Emma knows that putting stones inside a chocolate box doesn't make them turn into chocolates!""Just like putting a person inside a church doesn't make them a Christian!" said Mom. "Maybe you should tell Rae about Emma's chocolates." "Good idea!" said Sarah. "Maybe it would help her understand that going to church is great, but we can only become Christians by trusting in Jesus." -Tanya Ferdinandusz