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Making Pancakes
Six-year-old
Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his
parents pancakes.
He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair
to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the
heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor. He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands,
mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar,
leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a
few tracks left by his kitten.
Brandon was covered with flour and getting
frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good
for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.
He didn't know what to do next, whether to put
it all into the oven or on the stove (and he didn't
know how the stove worked!).
Suddenly
he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and
reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to
the floor. Frantically
he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped
on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.
And
just then, he saw Dad standing at the door....
Big
crocodile tears welled up in Brandon's eyes.
All he'd wanted to do was something good, but
he'd made a terrible mess.
He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a
spanking. But his father just watched him.
Then, walking through the mess, he picked up
his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his
own pajamas white and sticky in the process.*
Despite
our best efforts, you and I end up making a "mess"
of our lives!
ALL of us have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God (Romans 3:23).
It seems that as we try to clean up one mess,
we cause another.
We end up being frustrated and burdened by
guilt. When
we realize that the Heavenly Father sees the mess that
we have made, we are
even more concerned about our awful predicament.
Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we
can't think of anything else to do.
However,
the Heavenly Father longs to hold us, to forgive us,
and even to clean up our mess for us.
In fact, it was because of our mess that His
Son died on the cross.
"He bore our sins ["our mess"] in His own
body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might
live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were
healed"
(1 Peter 2:24).
The
Father's forgiveness is open to those - who by
faith
will come to Him (Hebrews 11:6) with their mess, repenting
of their sins (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confessing
Jesus as the Divine Savior (Romans 10:9-10), being baptized
(immersed)
in the name of Jesus so that their sins can be washed
away (Acts 2:38).
The
Father wants us to continue to try to "make
pancakes" (do good works)
for Him with our lives (Ephesians 2:10).
And as long as we do our best to do His will,
He will continue to "clean up the messes"
that we make (1 John 1:7).
Tired
of the mess? Turn
it over to God!
God
bless you!
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*Author Unknown
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