Daily Devotional for August 8, 2017
The Big Stain
Adam’s eyes widened in horror as his elbow knocked a bottle of paint off the table and it toppled to the floor. Blue paint spread in a growing blob across the kitchen. Adam jumped off his chair and quickly picked up the paint bottle. What am I going to do? he wondered. I’ve got to clean this up before Grandpa and Grandma see it.
Adam rushed into the laundry room and grabbed some rags, then ran back to the kitchen and used them to soak up the paint on the floor. A large stain remained behind, so he got a bucket of soapy water and began scrubbing the paint spot. This isn’t going to work! Adam thought frantically. He ran to the sink and began washing his hands. I can’t get the paint off my hands either! He knew he would have to tell his grandparents what had happened.
Grandpa frowned when he came in and saw the stain. “Well, I’m just glad the floor isn’t carpeted!” he said. “I have some special cleaner in the garage, and I think it will work on this.” Grandpa went to get the cleaner, and soon all trace of the paint was gone.
“You know, Adam,” said Grandpa as they washed their hands with the same cleaner they had used on the floor, “maybe we can both learn a good lesson from what just happened.”
Adam looked up at him. “Not to fool around with paint in the kitchen, right?”
Grandpa smiled. “Well, yes, but I was thinking of an even more important lesson. You couldn’t wash the paint stains away by yourself, could you?” Adam shook his head. “The Bible tells us we’re all stained by sin, and no matter how hard we try, we just can’t clean it away by ourselves.” Grandpa picked up a towel and dried his hands. “But when Jesus died and rose again, He made it possible for our sins to be washed away.”
Adam dried his clean hands too. “I needed you to use your special cleaner on the floor and on my hands,” he said, “and I need Jesus to clean my heart, right?”
Grandpa smiled and put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “That’s exactly right.”
– Richard S. Maffeo
How about you?
Have your sins been washed away? You can’t clean your heart by being good or doing good things. It won’t work. You need someone to clean it for you—Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can make your heart clean and free from the guilt of sin. Ask Him to cleanse your heart today. (See “The ABCs of Salvation” on the right column of this page..)
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