Daily Devotional for May 31, 2019
Not Ashamed
“Mom, look at this!” called Lori from her bedroom. She had decided to rearrange her furniture, but when she moved the dresser, she saw that the wall behind it was covered with ugly marks. “Isn’t that awful?” exclaimed Lori as her mother walked in. “Tricia must have done that, but I don’t know how she got behind the dresser. It looks terrible!”
Mom laughed. “Don’t blame your little sister. Those marks were made long before she was born.”
Lori frowned. “But if Tricia didn’t do it, who did?”
“You did! One day when you were about two years old, you marched into the kitchen holding a permanent marker and tugged at my hand. I followed you in here, and this is what I found. I tried to clean the wall, but the marks didn’t come off. So I moved the dresser to cover it and forgot about it. I guess we need to paint now, huh?”
Lori nodded and looked at the wall. “I made a mess, didn’t I?”
“You sure did! I’d warned you about drawing on walls, yet you eagerly showed me what you had done. You apparently thought I’d praise you for your fine artwork instead of punishing you for disobeying.”
“Well, I’m sure that didn’t happen.” Lori laughed. “Some artwork that is! I’m definitely not proud of it now. It’s funny how things seem different when you’re older.”
“Many things in life are like that,” said Mom. “Sometimes we wish we could go back and undo things we’ve done, but we can’t. Our actions are like markers that draw life pictures, and sometimes they turn out to be big messes that make us feel ashamed.”
“So how can we paint over messes and mistakes?” asked Lori.
“We can’t, but Jesus can! He died to rescue us from the biggest mess of all—sin—and He will always forgive us when we admit our wrongs to Him. We might still have to face consequences for our actions, but Jesus will clean up our mess and paint a new picture—one that brings us joy instead of shame.”
“I’m glad He paints over our messes so we never have to feel ashamed,” Lori said. She pointed to the wall. “Now we just need to find someone to paint over this mess I made!” •Sherry L. Kuyt
How about you?
Have you done something you regret? Do you feel ashamed and wish you could undo what you did? You can’t undo it, but you can confess it to Jesus. He will clean your heart and paint a new picture that’s full of joy and grace instead of regret and shame. Even though you may face consequences with others over what you did, you don’t have to feel ashamed. Jesus loves you and will forgive you.
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?