We’ve all done it - stood in line at a store waiting to make our purchase, and suddenly we become a captive audience of carefully-planned strategies of advertising. We stand in front of magazines with enticing pictures and captions that peak our interests and of course the sweet treats positioned at the eye level of children.
While Jesus was here he used an effective technique that grabbed the same kind of attention of listeners as He spoke to them in short stories, simple enough that a child could understand. He talked of seeds to farmers, bread-making to homemakers and loved to play with children.
The following is like one of those simple stories about my cousin that happened between him and his mother. When he was a little boy, he saw his mother making a chocolate sauce, a special dessert for company. She left the sweet treat uncovered to cool and told her son not to touch it, and then proceeded out of the kitchen to tend to other things. After a while she came back only to find a little boy with a chocolate face. She asked him if he had eaten any of the delicacy, and of course he shook his head in denial.
His mother didn’t say a word, but gently took his hand and led him to a mirror. My cousin looked at his reflection and there he stood, a boy that wore guilt spread over his face and couldn’t deny the truth. My aunt’s form of child discipline was anchored to a foundation of truth, love and mercy, and so she asked him if he would like her to clean him up. Knowing that he was too little to clean himself, it took no time to submit to her help.
One day there was not just a boy that licked some chocolate, but a full-grown man that ate a piece of fruit that was off limits. The resulting guilt filtered down to every human.
The only prerequisite for forgiveness for a little boy was submission to cleaning with a washcloth, but today, for us, it is just to believe in and submit to God’s Son Who cleans us of our guilt.
It all sounds so simple, but represents the most extraordinry action of love ever made. God made all the provisions of everything necessary to restore man back to Himself. All we have to do is accept the truth of that fact.
Father, help us to recognize that we were born separated from you and can’t bridge that huge gap ourselves. As much as a little boy submitted to his mother’s help to get clean , so we submit to You in simplicity and believe and receive what You did and continue doing for us. “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7
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