“Benjamin, what is happening to your hair?” his concerned mother asked one day at lunch. Though his hair seemed to look okay, tufts were falling out and landing on the table and on the floor.
Benjamin is a very active five-year-old who wants to be a surgeon someday and finds scissors to be a most interesting tool. He cut off lots of his sister’s pretty hair awhile ago, much to his parents’ displeasure. This time he had used the scissors on his own head. Perhaps he was a bit surprised to find such a large clump of hair in his hand, which he had cut off right from the top of his head where it was very noticeable. So he set to work, and by the time he sat down for lunch, he had fixed the problem . . . or so he thought.
Being a smart little boy, Benjamin had glued the hair he had cut off right back in place on his head, and it was so very well placed that it didn’t look like anything had happened. But either he hadn’t used enough glue or some of the hair had missed being glued, because little tufts of hair were coming loose and falling down onto the table and floor.
I suppose his parents were thankful that it was a problem a trip to the barber could take care of, and Benjamin was taken to the barber that very day. His head was completely shaved.
We may laugh at Benjamin for trying to cover up what he had done. But are you perhaps doing the same thing, only with something far more serious than hair? The Bible says, “He that covereth his sin shall not prosper” (Proverbs 28:1313He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)). Each person able to understand this story has sinned, because the Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). Because God is righteous and holy, He cannot permit even one sin to enter that wonderful place where He lives. Wouldn’t you like to live in heaven someday where you can see the glory of God? Of course you would. But what about all those sins on your record? They will keep you out!
Because God loves you so much, He has provided the answer for you. He sent the Lord Jesus to Calvary’s cross to take the full punishment for every one of your sins, if you will accept Him as your Saviour. The Lord Jesus died on that cross so that the way is open for each one of us to be accepted into heaven without our sins. The Bible says Jesus came to “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ” (Hebrews 9:2626For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)). That was a big price for Him to pay, wasn’t it? And do you know why He did it? Because He loves sinners!
Benjamin tried, but he couldn’t hide from his mother what he had done to his hair. And you can’t hide your sins from God. The rest of Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoso confesseth and forsaketh them [sins] shall have mercy.” God offers you mercy if you will confess to Him that you are a sinner and believe that His Son, the Lord Jesus, took the punishment for your sins on Calvary’s cross. When you accept God’s mercy, He wipes your record clean, and the way into heaven is then opened for you!
Have you accepted His mercy?
ML-03/10/2002