Daily Devotional for November 17, 2021
Hospital for Sinners
“Mom, did you really tell Logan he could bring Elliott Blackburn to church with us tomorrow?” asked Laya.
“Yes, I did,” Mom replied. “Why?”
“Oh, Mom!” Laya wailed. “Elliott is horrible! He’s everything you tell us not to be, and then you turn around and say he can come to church with us. If you knew him, you wouldn’t want Logan to be friends with him.”
“I don’t want Logan to be influenced by Elliott’s behavior or take part in it,” said Mom. “But it sounds like Elliott could use a caring friend in his life, and I think Logan could be that person.”
Just then Logan burst into the room, holding his wrist. “I was going through some stuff in the garage and cut my hand on something sharp!”
Mom grabbed some paper towels and pressed them tightly against the cut. But the wound was deep, and when it kept on bleeding, she took her car keys off the hook by the door. “Come on,” she said. “We’re going to the hospital to get that checked out.”
At the hospital, a doctor examined Logan’s hand and then stitched and bandaged it. Soon they were ready to go back home.
“Those doctors and nurses were great,” said Logan when they got home and he showed Dad the bandages. “They took really good care of my hand, and they were all so nice.”
Dad smiled. “That’s what doctors and nurses are for—they take care of the sick and hurting.”
“Kind of like church,” Mom mused. “The church is a place for sin-sick, hurting people who need Jesus—and that describes all of us.” She glanced at her daughter. “What if hospitals only allowed clean, healthy people in their emergency rooms?”
Laya sighed. “People who were sick couldn’t get help.”
Mom nodded. “I’m glad Jesus invites all of us who are spiritually sick and dirty with sin to come to Him to be cleaned and healed. If the church only opened its doors to those good enough to be there on their own, none of us would be allowed in. We’re all sinners in need of His forgiveness.”
“I know,” Laya said. “I’m sorry.” She smiled at her brother. “If you want, I can introduce Elliott to some of my friends at church tomorrow.”
-Barbara J. Westberg
How about you?
Do you only invite kids who behave nicely to go to church with you? Keep inviting the nice kids—they need Jesus. But those who aren’t so pleasant to be around need Jesus too. No matter how we behave, each one of us is a sinner, and Jesus invites us all to come to Him to be healed and made clean. If you know Him as your Savior, He’s forgiven your sin. As a member of His church, help bring others to Him so they can be healed too.
Thank you for reading this Keys for Kids devotional! Did you enjoy the story? Has Keys for Kids been an encouragement to you and your family? If so, would you please consider supporting Keys For Kids Ministries in our effort to continue to provide these daily devotionals to children around the world?