Kim is a cute little girl in second grade. But you will soon see that Kim didn’t pay much attention last year when her first grade teacher was teaching the class how to add. Kim could not add the number 1 to another number. Can you? I wrote out a page of problems for Kim like this:
1 + 1 = 4 + 1 =
2 + 1 = 5 + 1 =
3 + 1 = 6 + 1 =
Can you write the answers on this paper? With a little help Kim could. I explained that each answer was one number higher than the number she started with. She seemed to understand, so I asked, “If you add 1 to 132 what would you get?”
“1,000,073,” she replied with a big smile.
Thinking I had made the question too hard I asked, “Kim, if you add 1 to 84 what would you have?”
“1,056?” she asked, not really sure.
“Kim,” I said, “you are just guessing. I want you to THINK.”
Now, I’m going to ask all of you who are reading this story to answer some questions. Don’t guess at the answers; THINK!
Here is the first question: How many bad things are going to be in heaven? Did you answer, “None”? That’s right, because even one bad thing would spoil heaven, just like one bad thing that Adam did spoiled the earth.
Now I’m going to ask you a more personal question. Have you ever done even one bad thing? If you said “Yes,” that is right. But if you said “No,” that answer is wrong, because God tells us that all of us have done bad things. God calls bad things sins, and He says in 1 Kings 8:4646If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; (1 Kings 8:46), “There is no man that sinneth not.”
Here is the next question: Since you have done bad things, how can you go to heaven when no bad things are allowed there? Don’t guess; THINK! Here is the answer: You can only go to heaven if you let the Lord Jesus forgive your sins. Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7) tells us that in Jesus “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
But how can He forgive us? Does He just say, “Oh, you’re a nice person . . . I’ll forget about your sins”? Don’t guess about this. It’s most important that you KNOW the answer to this question.
The Lord Jesus can’t ignore our sins. Every bad thing each of us has ever done must be punished. But God knew we’d have to spend forever in hell and we still wouldn’t be finished being punished for our sins. Because He loves us so much, God provided Someone else to take that punishment. He sent His own perfect Son to die on Calvary’s cross to be punished for our sins.
So now your punishment for your sins will be paid by the Lord Jesus if you will come to Him and truthfully say, “I am a sinner, and I want to be forgiven.” He will forgive you and wash away all your sins in His precious blood. In 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7) we read that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
You’ll be glad to know that Kim has learned how to add. She can now add the number 1 to another number correctly. And I hope that when she reads this story she will learn the only way there is to heaven. She needs to let the Lord Jesus forgive her sins.
Now, here’s one last question for you: Will you let the Lord Jesus forgive your sins?
ML-11/15/1998