A delicious dinner of fried chicken had been enjoyed by the family. The children wiggled and shifted on their chairs. They, as well as their dog Ginger, knew the routine - a chapter read from the Bible and prayer after the meal. Petted and spoiled as she was, Ginger had some manners. She sat during the dinner fairly patiently, only now and then licking her chops and whining softly to make her presence known. After dinner the table was cleared, the chicken bones collected in a paper bag and everything taken into the kitchen.
At last the family kneeled down for prayer. In an instant, Ginger was heard padding across the kitchen floor right to the bag of bones. Rattle, rattle, crunch, crunch! Ginger paused and scampered back into the dining room for a peek. Yes, still on their knees! She hurried back to the bones before prayer time, her “safe time,” was over. Naughty Ginger!
“She thinks she’s a person,” laughed one of the children. “She acts like a bad girl!”
We smile at Ginger’s crafty trick which got her a good scolding. But are not our own ways just as foolish? Can we hide a lie or naughty deed from God? “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:33The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)).
Ginger’s family chuckled at her tricks, but does God think our sinful ways are funny? “Fools make a mock at sin” (Proverbs 14:99Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favor. (Proverbs 14:9)). There are no “cute little sins.” Our loving Saviour had to bleed and die for every single sin. When this lesson was realized by one little girl we know, she exclaimed, “Oh, Mommy! Did He do that for ME?” Have you understood this wonderful truth and come to the Lord Jesus to have your sins washed away?
ML-07/10/2005