After thirty years of cold winters, Father moved us all to the warm weather of southern California. He filled our yard with ferns and cactus plants. Our house had a flat roof with a wall around it, and there Father put most of the potted cactus plants. In this way they could be enjoyed, but no one would be hurt by their sharp prickers. But there was one little plant that looked perfectly safe since you could not see any prickers. It was a cactus just as much as the others. He planted it in a rock garden close to the house where people could see it since it was so pretty. It was a little plant with thick, round green leaves and nothing but yellow velvet-looking polka dots all over each leaf. The velvet spots looked so soft that they seemed to welcome your gentle touch. After you touched it you would discover that the little velvety hairs were actually fine, sharp needles that came off in your hand no matter how lightly you touched the plant. Once they were on your hand, you couldn’t see them to wipe them off, and the ones that stayed dug in, broke off in your skin when you tried to remove them, and later made a sore spot if left in. When you thought you had them all removed, a sharp little pain a few days later would remind you that there was still another one in there. People know to stay away from the regular cactus needles and their sharp points, but this little plant with its soft needles tempted many.
Father invited all the neighborhood children to come in on Friday nights to hear Bible stories, because children everywhere need to know that God loves each one of us. He would always warn the children NOT to touch the little cactus. He told them what would happen if they did. He used this to warn them about sins. No matter how much warning Father gave, there was always someone who would reach over and touch the little cactus. It is the same way with sins. We turn away from the obviously bad sins, but reach out to the pretty “little” ones. We don’t realize our danger until it is too late, and then the pain pricks us again and again.
To break the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” sounds much worse than to break the one that says, “Honor thy father and thy mother,” but each one is sin. The wages of sin is still death, but how happy we can be that the rest of that Bible verse says, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23). God knows how many sins each of us has. When we trust in Jesus, we learn that He was punished by God the amount that would pay for every one of those sins. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour and thanked Him for dying to pay to remove each of your sins? God’s gift is eternal life. Won’t you accept this gift right now?
ML-03/16/1986