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“Hey, Anthony, look at my new skateboard! Wanna try it out?” Anthony watched as his friend Dave expertly jumped his new skateboard over a little hill in the parking lot, then swooped into a big half circle and stopped right at Anthony’s feet.
“Man, it’s really cool!” Anthony said as he looked over the flashy colors and the new high-speed wheels. “Yeah, I wanna try it.” It was Sunday morning, and Anthony, his mother, brothers and sisters had just gotten off the bus that brought them to Sunday school. His mother knew the importance of taking her children to Sunday school every week where they would hear the gospel story of Jesus and His love for sinners. Getting them there wasn’t easy for her, and there wasn’t much money to cover clothes for seven children. She had taken Anthony to the store just that week to get a new pair of pants. When he put them on that morning, she had said to him, “Now listen to me, Anthony. These are new pants, and they’re going to have to last you a long while, so don’t do anything where you could ruin them!” Anthony had said, “Okay.”
After admiring the new skateboard, Anthony set it down on the smooth blacktop of the parking lot. He planted one foot on the board and pushed off with the other. The little hills and dips in the parking lot made it really fun to get up some speed, jump the hills and then swoop into wide turns. Man, this new skateboard is really fast, Anthony thought as he easily picked up more speed.
He never saw the stone. It caught under one wheel. The next thing Anthony knew, he was skidding on the parking lot on his knees and the skateboard was going the other direction.
He picked himself up but quickly forgot how much his knee hurt when he looked down at his pants. “Oh, no! I tore a hole in my new pants!” Remembering what his mother had told him when he put them on, he thought, Boy, I’m in big trouble now! There’s no way I can hide this hole from Mom. . . . She’ll see it right away!
Yes, Anthony was in big trouble. He had disobeyed his mother, and he was going to have to pay a price for it. He knew and understood the Bible verse, “Children, obey your parents,” and most of you children do too. It is so important to follow God’s instructions, because disobeying is sin. And even if you are able to hide your disobedience from your mom or dad or teacher, you can’t hide sin from God. “[God’s] eyes are upon the ways of man, and He [sees] all his goings” (Job 34:21). Anthony knew what he had done was wrong, and he did not look forward to what was coming. But he hadn’t just disobeyed his mother; he had disobeyed God too, and sinning against God requires His punishment. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Now, Anthony’s brothers and sisters certainly loved him, but it wasn’t too likely that one of them would step in to take Anthony’s punishment for ruining his pants. No, he would have to take that punishment himself. He disobeyed, he knew it and he deserved the punishment. And if you are really truthful with yourself, you will admit that you have disobeyed God, not just once or twice, but many, many times and deserve the punishment for your sins. But for you, God is offering a Substitute—His Son Christ Jesus, who loves sinners so much He stepped in and took the punishment we deserve for our sins on Calvary’s cross. But His suffering for sins can only cover you if you will admit your guilt and by faith accept Him as your Saviour. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). “His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree . . . by whose stripes ye [are] healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Anthony had to take the punishment for disobeying his mother, but after this life he won’t have to take God’s punishment for any of his sins, because he has accepted Christ Jesus as his very own Saviour.
What about you?