Who’s Keeping the Kangaroo?

"You look sad, Kevin. What are you thinking about?" Mom finished drying her hands on the kitchen towel she was holding and hung it back up on the rack. "Well…" Kevin gulped. "Remember how I got saved in Sunday school a few months ago? Well, I think I might not be saved anymore! I keep doing bad things. I disobey you all the time. I lied to my teacher about my homework. I said something mean to Justin when we were playing that video game the other day. Justin says I'm going to lose my salvation if I keep doing all these bad things!" Mom was quiet for a moment, then she said, "Let's go to the park."Kevin wiped his nose on his sleeve and slid off the couch. He grabbed his battered stuffed kangaroo and headed to the park with his mom. "Better leave Joey with me," Mom said when they got to the park. "You don't want to lose him on the playground."Kevin reluctantly handed his kangaroo over to his mom for safekeeping. Then he ran off to play.Later, at home, Kevin started crying. "Mom! I can't find Joey anywhere! I think I lost him at the park. Now he's gone forever and I'll never see him again!" "You didn't lose him. I was keeping him for you, remember?" She pulled the stuffed animal out of her bag and handed him to Kevin.Kevin grabbed Joey and squished him to his chest. He was so happy his favorite little friend wasn't lost!"Kevin," Mom said, "remember how you were asking about losing your salvation? This is a good illustration of how salvation works. When you trusted Jesus as your Savior, He forgave your sins and gave you eternal life as a child of God. That's what salvation is--the promise that we have been freed from sin's power and will live with God forever as His people. If you had to keep your salvation safe all by yourself, you would lose it. But Jesus not only gives us salvation for free--He is also the one who keeps it for us! You can't lose your salvation because Jesus is holding it for you." -Kristi Van Winkle