Have you ever received a gift that was one of a kind? A gift that you could never replace if it was lost or stolen? A gift that you couldn't buy with all the money in the world? How would you take care of that gift?

My story is about a man who received a pocket watch from his father. This man adored his father's watch. He always had it with him, and he was continuously polishing and caring for it.

It was an exquisite watch with a gold case. It had been handcrafted for his father, and it was truly one of a kind.

This man, let's call him Jim, took very good care of that watch. He had it cleaned and maintained once a year by a local jeweler who had an impeccable reputation for watch repair. He also kept the outside of the watch in immaculate condition.

To see the watch you would think it was brand new. It kept extremely accurate time. Jim never seemed to grow tired of caring for that watch.

Have you ever received a truly precious gift like Jim's? Well, in fact, we all have. It is the gift of grace from our Heavenly Father. We couldn't buy it with all the money in the world. There is no way we can earn this gift. But, just like Jim with his father's watch, we must cherish this gift. We must keep it with us at all times and polish it continuously, so to speak.

Jim's father had left Jim some instructions on how to care for the watch. Jim was diligent to follow those instructions, and the results were that he had an old watch that looked as good and ran as well as it did when it was new.

Our Heavenly Father has given us a most precious gift, and along with it some instructions so that the gift can be enjoyed for eternity. Are we diligently following those instructions?

If Jim hadn't followed his father's instructions concerning that pocket watch, it would have soon started to look old, and over time it would have stopped keeping good time. It probably would have stopped running altogether at some point.

The same is true about our gift from God. If we ignore our Father's instructions, the gift will start to lose its luster, not because the gift is flawed, but because we have neglected to keep it in tip-top condition.

Many today say that once we receive this gift from God, we don't need to do anything but accept it. I hope you see the fallacy in that thinking. If all we need to do is accept the gift, then why has our Father given us instructions for its upkeep? We are to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). How do we do that if we don't follow His instructions?

Unfortunately, Jim lost that watch he loved so much because of an unfortunate accident. Jim refused to talk about it, but his wife said it was lost one evening when they were out. It seems the chain broke and somehow the watch must have fallen out of Jim's pocket, never to be seen again.

Unlike Jim's watch, our most precious gift cannot be lost by accident. The only way we can lose it is through neglect. We must read our Father's instructions and follow them to properly care for His gift.

Let's diligently follow those instructions to make certain our Father's gift will last a lifetime and beyond.