You’re making your way home and with each step, your excitement grows. You’re thinking about that desert you recently bought and stashed away deep in the fridge. “Just a few more steps and I’ll be there,” you’re thinking. You turn the key, enter, you bypass your three little ones (not a good idea), kiss your wife on her forehead, and head straight for the fridge. “Whaaaaaaatt?” shoots forth from your mouth as you gasp for air in unbelief! They’re gone!! Everything, gone!! You round up your crew into the living room. You don’t call your wife in cause she’s not a suspect (though, she might just be the unsuspecting culprit).
Each kid has an alibi, though their faces prove otherwise. “It ain’t me” they say. You stand there shaking your head in disbelief as you observe guilt, not to mention chocolate, yogurt, and other goodies spread around their mouths. Yet, they’re claiming innocence. You head back to the store for more. When God questioned the first couple created, they immediately pointed fingers. “The woman that you gave me, gave to me and I ate,” said Adam. When she was questioned, she said, “The snake tricked me, and I did eat” (Gen. 3:12,13). They were punished by God. Truth of the matter is Eve knew it was wrong, but she chose to disobey God. Equally true is that Adam was next to his wife when she ate and gave him, so he was without excuse (Gen.3:6). And so, finger-pointing continues to date. When I taught in NY it was not uncommon for teachers’ lunches to disappear from the Teachers’ lounge fridge. People would get so upset! One day, I caught the culprit, or at least, a culprit. Ms. B. opened the fridge and practically ransacked it looking for something to eat! I asked her if she had misplaced her lunch. She said she hadn’t but wasn’t happy at not finding anything worth eating there… Daily, from God’s point of view, we, His children, have chocolate all over our mouths. Its sweetness is appealing. We’re guilty before Him, not because we ate something, but because we have sin written all over our faces-and nothing we do rids it. Even if we wear a mask or try to hide our ways, we can’t! “Nothing in all creation is hid from God’s sight” (Hebrews 4:13).
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We’re born into it and the only way to undo its sour results, is through accepting His sacrifice for us; He took our sins upon Him. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds we are healed (1Peter2:24). “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Corinthians 5:21). The only way we can stand before Him sinless, is by accepting that sacrifice. Think of it as God replacing your desserts and closing the fridge. He declares you whole. How sweet it is! You’re thrilled. As His kid, you can wipe your mouth clean of all evidences of guilt and the sour results. You’re forgiven. (Wives too). Treats on the house!!
God Bless,
Sam