Mr. Albert, a missionary, heard a late-night knock at his door and opened it to find three of his friends, Freddy, Juan and David, standing there. Something was wrong.

“Come in,” said Mr. Albert. “How may I help you?”

Freddy, the uncle of the two teenagers, asked, “Do you know how to tell if a ring is really made of gold?”

He explained that David had been left to look after his father’s store that afternoon. A stranger had come in saying he urgently needed to travel to another city but he had no money. He showed David two rings that he had and told him that if he would give him money to make the trip, he would not only repay him when he returned, but he would also buy him a soccer ball. He would leave the two rings with David to assure him that he would return. “They are real gold rings,” the stranger said.

David believed the man and gave him the money he wanted. But that night he began to have doubts. Were those really gold rings? Maybe they were only made of brass and had no value at all. Since David’s father was away, Uncle Freddy and Juan went with him to Mr. Albert’s house. Maybe Mr. Albert could tell if they were really gold.

“There’s only one test that I know of to make sure if something is made of gold,” Mr. Albert told them. “A drop of acid is the way to test. If the ring is brass, the acid will leave a stain, but gold will not stain. But I don’t know if I have an acid that is strong enough to make the test.”

Then he remembered his jeep. “That’s it!” he said. “We can get some acid out of the battery in the jeep.” So, he got a straw and went out to the jeep to get a drop of acid from the battery. Back inside the house in good light they made the test. Were the rings gold or brass? Soon a brown spot on each of the two rings told them the truth. Brass! The rings were not gold at all. A sad David left Mr. Albert’s home that night. He knew that the stranger would never come back for his nearly worthless rings. David had been tricked.

Reader, did you know that the Bible tells us that Satan only comes to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10)? Are you in danger of losing your precious life because you haven’t trusted in the Lord Jesus as your Savior? The devil likes people to think that he is their friend and that he will give them real happiness and that God will rob them of happiness. David would have been safe if he had asked Mr. Albert about the rings before he gave the money to the thief. And you will be safe if you believe what God says in the Bible and trust in the Lord Jesus to save you and keep you for your whole life. The Bible tells us that “whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25 NKJV). We can tell you more.

Adapted from Messages Of God’s Love, March 17, 2024, Bible Truth Publishers