Has anyone ever talked you into doing something you knew you should not do? Sometimes our friends can talk us into doing things that are wrong, especially when they offer us something we like. Another way they might get us to do something wrong is to say, “If you don’t do this, we are not going to be your friends any more.” Often they may try to get you to do for them what they are afraid to do for themselves.
When I was a young boy about 9 or 10 years old, some older boys said they would trade me some marbles if I would do something for them. They wanted me to buy them some cigarettes by charging them to my dad’s account at the store. I knew better and I was afraid to do it, but I really wanted those marbles.
Not only did I want those marbles, I wanted to have those older boys as my friends. Those two reasons were enough to overcome my fear of doing something I knew was wrong. I bought the cigarettes and charged them to my dad’s account. Then I gave those cigarettes to the older boys and they gave me some beautiful marbles. They were pleased, and so was I.
Now, I did not understand how charging to an account actually worked. The store clerk made a record of the charge, of course, and gave me a carbon copy of the sales slip. So I just tore up the copy he gave me, thinking I had destroyed the record of what I had done. I did not know that the clerk kept the first copy of the sales slip.
You may be thinking that I was foolish. Yes, I had done a very foolish thing, and the end result was not what I expected. I thought I had covered up my sin, but the Bible warns us in Numbers 32:2323But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23), “Be sure your sin will find you out.”
Wanting those marbles caused me to do what I knew was wrong. Very often the pleasure of sin “right now” is used by the devil to persuade people to go ahead and do just what they want, even though they really know it is wrong. The very temporary fun “right now” causes them to forget that God’s Word says they will have to answer to Him for everything they do that is wrong. Nothing is covered up.
When Dad went to the store to pay his bill, there was the record of my purchase. When he asked about the charge, the store clerk said, “That red-headed boy of yours got them the other day.”
I was found out!
Many boys and girls, and many grown-ups too, foolishly go on doing whatever they want, wrongly thinking that no record is kept. For those who do not come to the Lord Jesus to have their sins forgiven, it will be an awful thing to discover that every sin, big or little, was written down in God’s perfect record book. Just as the record of my sin was in the charge book at the store and I was going to have to answer to my dad, so every person whose sins are unforgiven will have to answer to God for them. The Bible says, “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened . . . and the dead [those who died with their sins unforgiven] were judged out of those things which were written in the books.” Revelation 20:1212And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12). The Lord Jesus, before whom all must stand as judge, is the very same One who loved them and shed His precious blood so that all who believe on Him (receive Him into their hearts as Saviour) might have all their sins forgiven.
You can be sure my dad punished me, not only for having bought the cigarettes, but also for hiding from him what I had done. When my sin was discovered, it was too late for me to escape my father’s punishment. If you put off receiving the Lord Jesus as your Saviour until the awful day when you must stand before Him as your judge, it will be too late for you to escape eternal punishment.
But you may still come to the Lord Jesus right now, confessing to Him that you are a sinner and have all your sins forgiven and be saved forever. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9). The Lord Jesus is telling you right now, “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment].” John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24). If you wait until you have to stand before the Lord Jesus as your judge, He can only say to you, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.” Matthew 25:4141Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (Matthew 25:41).
Won’t you come to Him right now and be forgiven?
ML-10/31/1993