No Good Deed Bandages
Bible Reading: Psalm 32:1-5
Gideon was busily sweeping the garage when his dad pulled into the driveway. "Hi, Gideon," Dad said. "What's going on?"
"TJ has chickenpox," Gideon announced, putting the broom away.
"And you?" Dad arched his eyebrows. He knew that when Gideon did work without being asked, it usually meant he had done something wrong.
"Me?" Gideon shrugged. "I'm fine." Dad waited. "I swept the whole garage." Dad still waited. "Oh, and, uh…I sort of hit a baseball through Mr. Weaver's window."
"Sort of?" Dad frowned. "After I told you not to hit balls in the yard?"
"Well, um…yeah." Gideon averted his eyes as they went into the house. "Mr. Weaver got mad. He said he'd call you."
"Hi, Daddy." Four-year-old TJ looked mournful as he sat up on the couch. "I'm sick. I got the chickenpoxes, but I fixed 'em. I sticked bandages on 'em. See?"
Gideon rolled his eyes when he saw his brother. "TJ, how silly can you get! You can't cure chickenpox by covering up the spots! That might hide them a little bit, but it sure won't make them better!"
"That's true," said Dad. "Another thing you shouldn't try to cover up is sin. You can't fix it by being good. So don't try to use good deeds as bandages to cover up your wrongs."
"What do you mean?" asked Gideon.
"I've noticed that when you do something wrong, you often try to cover it by doing a good thing," said Dad. "After you lied to me last week, you raked the leaves. When you disobeyed your mother, you washed dishes. Today you swept the garage as if that would make up for what you did this afternoon."
Gideon dug his toe into the carpet. "I guess I do try to fix things that way sometimes," he said. "When I do something wrong, I feel bad and want to make it better."
"I know," Dad said. "But that's not the way to do it. Jesus is the only one whose goodness can cover our wrongs. We need to confess our sins and trust Him to forgive us. Then we should ask anyone else we've wronged to forgive us too." Dad picked up TJ. "You go to your room and think about it, Gideon, while I take care of this little guy and his stick 'em bandages."
-Barbara J. Westberg
How About You?
Do you try to cover up wrong things you do by doing good things? It's great to do good things, but don't ever think those good deeds can cover your sins. It doesn't work that way. You need Jesus to forgive you. The blood He shed when He died on the cross is the only thing that can cover your sins. Confess your sin to Him, and He will forgive you. Then ask anyone else you wronged to forgive you too.
Today's Key Verse:
People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. (NLT)
(Proverbs 28:13)
Today's Key Thought:
Your good deeds can't cover sin