Marty was having a lot of fun. It was her first visit to southern Mexico and, like most eight-year-olds, she found the new sights and sounds exciting.
The animals were especially interesting. Dogs, chickens and pigs wandered around the small homes and sometimes even came right into the house where Marty and her parents were visiting. She loved to scratch the animals’ heads, pet them and try to make friends with them.
One fluffy, little, yellow chick was especially cute. Marty was delighted when she finally managed to catch it. It was so soft and fluffy, and it snuggled down in her hand as she petted it. She didn’t want to put it back down on the dirty ground, so she carefully put it in her skirt pocket.
“Look, Mommie,” she called. “I think this baby chick likes me.” Sure enough, the little chick had snuggled down in her pocket with only its head showing, looking very contented.
Soon, however, the little chick began to struggle to get free, and Marty reluctantly lifted it out of her pocket and put it down on the ground. Quickly it ran over to join its mother and brothers and sisters who were pecking in the dirt nearby.
For a few minutes all was quiet. Then Marty, with a shudder, called, “Ooh, Mommie. Come and look!”
Mother hurried over to see what she had found. There was Marty holding her skirt pocket open and peering into it with a look of disgust. Inside her pocket were several, tiny, little insects squirming around. The poor, little chicken had these insects in its fluffy feathers and quite a few of them were left behind in Marty’s pocket.
Marty changed her skirt at once, and then her mother got a bucket, soap and hot water and proceeded to wash the dirtied skirt.
That fluffy, little chicken looked so cute that it didn’t seem possible that it could ever cause any trouble. And sometimes sin is like that. That little lie doesn’t seem too bad, in fact, it may have saved you from being punished. Or maybe the time you cheated in school doesn’t seem very serious either. You may even have fooled your teacher into giving you a higher grade because of it. But the Bible tells us that “the pleasures of sin” are only “for a season.” Heb. 11:2525Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (Hebrews 11:25).
The Bible warns us that God hates sin, and that “the wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23). In fact, sin is so terrible that the only possible way that God could get rid of the stain of sin was to send His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and shed His blood so that our sins might be forgiven.
Marty’s skirt could be washed with soap and water, but only the blood of the Lord Jesus can wash away the stains of sin from our hearts. “The blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 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).
Won’t you let Him wash your sins away right now?
ML-11/23/1986