Daily Devotional for December 30, 2017
Stinky Towels
“Who’s first in shower line-up tonight?” Mom asked at the dinner table.
“I’ll go first,” Kyle volunteered. “But I’ve been meaning to tell you—the bath towels, they…well, they stink!”
His brother snickered. “Yeah,” Chris said. “I’ve noticed that too.”
Mom glanced at them and then at Dad. He cleared his throat. “Well, actually,” he said, “I’ve noticed that as well. But I didn’t want to complain.”
All eyes turned to Katie. “Well?” Mom asked. “Have you been using enough detergent to wash the towels?”
“Detergent?” Katie asked with a frown.
“The soap that goes in the washing machine,” Mom replied.
“Oh.” Katie looked down at her hands. “Uh, I guess I forgot that I needed to use that stuff.”
“Eww!” Chris wrinkled his nose. “We’ve been using dirty towels for weeks and weeks? That’s disgusting!”
“They sure looked clean every time Katie washed and dried them though,” Dad said.
“True,” said Mom. “But Katie, how about you start using that detergent. Then those towels will truly be clean—and the stink should go away too!”
“Okay,” Katie said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t doing it right.”
“That’s okay,” Dad told her. “Actually, this reminds me of a story. As you know, I grew up in a great Christian family. I was an obedient, well-behaved kid, and by the time I was about seventeen years old, people just assumed I was a true Christian. But I really wasn’t. Then one Sunday, the pastor preached a sermon about sin that God used to awaken my heart to my need for Jesus. I responded by going forward to the altar to pray and ask Jesus to be my Savior.” Dad smiled. “You should have seen the surprised looks on people’s faces!”
“Wow—you really had everyone fooled?” Kyle asked.
“Yep,” Dad answered. “I looked like a good Christian on the outside, but my heart was no better than a bunch of stinky towels. I needed Jesus to clean up the sin on the inside in order to truly be clean and pure before God.” Dad glanced at Katie. “So thanks, sweetheart, for reminding all of us that it doesn’t matter how great we look on the outside—it’s our hearts that matter to God!” – Rebecca Thomas
How about you?
Do you think you’re a pretty good person? Do you try to obey your parents, be kind to others, and do what the Bible says? Those are good things to do, and doing them might make you look good to other people, but they can’t make you clean before God. Only Jesus can clean the sin from your heart. Then you’ll be truly clean from the inside out. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)
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?