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Remember the Duck
In
his book, "Will Daylight Come?"
Robert Heffler pens this moving
illustration:
There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on
their farm. He
was given a slingshot to play with, out in the woods.
He practiced in the woods, but he could never
hit the target. Getting
discouraged, he headed back to dinner. As he was
walking back, he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of
impulse, he let fly, hit the duck square in the head
and killed it. He was shocked and grieved.
In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the
woodpile, only to see his sister watching.
Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After
lunch that day... Grandma said, "Sally, let's
wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Grandma,
Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today,
didn't you Johnny?" And then she whispered to him, "Remember the
duck!"
So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go
fishing, and Grandma said, "I'm sorry, but I need
Sally to help me make supper." But Sally smiled
and said, "Well, that's all right because Johnny
told me he wanted to help."
And she whispered again, "Remember the
duck!" Sally went fishing and Johnny
stayed!
After
several days... of Johnny doing both his chores
and Sally's, he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he killed the duck.
She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said,
"Sweetheart, I know.
You see, I was standing at the window and I saw
the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you....
I was just wondering HOW LONG you would let Sally make
a SLAVE of you."
Like
Johnny, YOU and I are guilty of committing sin:
“For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God” (Romans 3:23).
We CANNOT -DENY IT- or -HIDE
IT-.
The
GOOD NEWS (the Gospel) is
that forgiveness is AVAILABLE!
Jesus died on the cross so that we can be
forgiven of our sin.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were STILL sinners, Christ died
for us" (Romans 5:8).
God has promised that: -IF
WE WILL-
place our trust
in Him: (Hebrews 11:6), repent
of our sins (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), be baptized
(immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27),
and live in faithful obedience to Him (1 John 1:7), -THEN
HE WILL-
wash away our sins.
You
would think... that once we receive forgiveness
from God, Satan would leave
us alone, but he doesn't!
He CONTINUES to accuse us and tries to make us
feel guilty. That's
what he does best -- HE'S AN ACCUSER (Revelation
12:10). Sometimes
we make the mistake of listening to him -- and thus
REMAIN a slave!
Forgiveness offers freedom -- freedom from"GUILT"
as well as freedom from"SIN".
How
long will YOU allow Satan
to make a SLAVE of you?
Accept the Lord’s forgiveness by TRUSTING and
OBEYING Him today!
God
bless you.
David
A. Sargent / Alan
Smith (author of “Thought for the Day”
White House Church of Christ, White House, Tennessee
-- www.TFTD-online.com).
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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