It was a bright Sunday morning, and the teacher stood at the front holding a small cardboard box. Everyone in the room leaned forward to see what was inside.
He smiled and said, “Today we’re going to learn something from something very small.”
When he opened the box, inside was a tiny toy car — a Dinky Toy Morris Mini Van, painted a lovely bright green.
“Now,” he said, “this isn’t just any toy car. Many years ago, a company called Dinky Toys made beautiful little metal cars like this one. They made them to look just like the real cars that drove through towns long ago — when there weren’t any big supermarkets, only little corner shops, and milk bottles sat on the doorsteps in the morning. The Mini Van was one of those little cars that delivered bread, milk, and parcels to people’s houses.”
Everyone stared at the toy. It shone in the light.
💰 The Value of the Little Car
“Do you know what?” said the teacher. “If this toy is kept in perfect condition, it could be worth more than five hundred pounds!”
The children gasped.
“But,” he said, raising his finger, “does something have to cost a lot to be valuable?”
He shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. This toy is special because it reminds us of the past — but you are much more valuable than a toy, or even all the money in the world. The Bible tells us that each one of us has something far more precious inside than gold or silver — a living soul that will never die.”
Then he quoted the words of Jesus:
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” — Mark 8:36
👁️ The Vision of the Little Car
“Now close your eyes,” said the teacher. “Imagine we’ve gone back seventy-five years. The year is 1950. There are little shops on every corner. The milkman is driving a small green van like this one, clinking bottles together as he makes his rounds.
This little toy reminds us of those times — just as the Bible gives us a vision of the past, the present, and the future. The Bible helps us look back to what God has done, see how the world is now, and understand what will happen when the Lord Jesus comes again.”
He paused. “One day Jesus will return, and we will all stand before Him. What will matter on that day isn’t our toys or our money or how clever we are — it’s whether Jesus truly knows us.”
🗣️ The Voice of the Little Car
“Now imagine,” said the teacher, “that this little car could talk. What would it say?”
The children giggled.
Maybe it would say, ‘I was made in a factory and painted bright green! I once belonged to a boy who loved me very much!’
But suppose instead the little car said something sad:
‘Someone bought me a long time ago, but they never cared for me.
They kept me in my box, forgot about me, and never really knew me.’
The room grew quiet.
Then the teacher said, “Do you know what the letters in the word DINKY can remind us of?
They spell out the words Jesus said in Matthew 7:23:
Depart, I Never Knew You.
Those are the saddest words anyone could ever hear from the Lord Jesus — ‘I never knew you.’”
He looked kindly at the children. “Jesus doesn’t just want us to say we know Him, or to go to church, or to have good collections of things. He wants us to love Him, to trust Him, and to walk with Him every day. That’s what it means for Him to truly know us.”
🌟 The Lesson of the Dinky Toy
“So,” he said softly, packing away the little green van,
“remember the value of the Dinky toy — but remember you are worth far more.
Remember the vision it gives — to look beyond this world to eternity.
And remember its voice — asking, ‘Does Jesus know me?’
That,” he said, closing the box, “is the most important question of all.”
✨ The End
(“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” — Matthew 7:23, KJV)
