What if you found out that God had it in mind to give you seventeen specific blessings today, but, you got only one? What do you suppose the reason would be?

There is a little fable about Mr. Jones who dies and goes to Heaven. Peter is waiting at the gates to give him a tour. Amid all the splendor of golden streets, beautiful mansions, and choirs of angels that Peter shows him, Mr Jones notices an odd looking building. He thinks it looks like an enormous warehouse. It has no windows and only one door.

When Mr Jones asks to see inside, Peter hesitates. “Why would there be any secrets in Heaven?”, Jones wonders, “What incredible surprise could be waiting for me in there?”

When the official tour is over, he’s still wondering, so he asks again to see inside the structure. Peter finally relents. When the Apostle opens the door, Mr Jones almost knocks him over in his haste to enter.
It turns out the enormous building is filled with row after row of shelves, floor to ceiling, each stacked neatly with white boxes tied with red ribbons.

“These boxes all have names on them”, Mr Jones muses aloud. Then turning to Peter he asks, “Do I have one?” “Yes you do”, says Peter as he tries to guide Mr Jones back outside. “Frankly”, Peter says, “If I were you…” But Mr Jones is already dashing toward the “J” aisle to find his box.

Peter follows, shaking his head. He catches up with Mr Jones just as he is slipping the red ribbon off the box and popping the lid. Looking inside, Jones has a moment of instant recognition, and he lets out a deep sigh like the ones Peter has heard so many times before. Because there in Mr jones’ white box are all the blessings that God wanted to give him while he was on earth…but Mr Jones had never asked.

“Ask”, promised Jesus, “and it will be given to you” (Mat 7:7). “You do not have because you do not ask”, said James (James 4:2). Even though there is no limit to God’s goodness, if you didn’t ask Him for a blessing yesterday, you didn’t get all that you were supposed to have.

Thats the catch…if you don’t ask for his blessing, you forfeit those that come to you only when you ask. In the same way that a father is honored to have a child beg for his blessing, your Father in Heaven is delighted when His blessing is what you covet the most.

Story from Edward Snyder, Facebook.