Do you know the names of these letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G? My kindergarten class was trying to learn them. There was blonde, blue-eyed Danny; slender, freckle-faced Jessica; roly-poly Paul; tall, serious Antoquan; and smiley Tyshana with her black braids and bright barrettes. They all watched closely as I printed some letters on the blackboard. “What’s the name of that letter?” I asked, pointing to a “C”.
Tyshana’s hand shot up.
“Yes, Tyshana.”
“A,” she announced.
“No, this is an ‘A’ over here. It only has straight lines in it. This is a ‘C’. It’s like a broken ball. It has no straight lines at all.” Then I printed a “B”. Again, Tyshana’s hand shot up. After I’d asked the others if they knew its name, I asked Tyshana.
Confidently she answered, “A.”
“No, Tyshana, this is a ‘B’. It has one line standing as straight as a soldier, then two bumps on the side.” But no matter how I drew and explained the letters to Tyshana, every one was an “A” to her.
Some people have so much trouble calling things by their right names. God says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:2323And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Romans 14:23). That means God is not happy with anything we do simply to please ourselves. We might not want to call it “sin”, but He does. He wants us to read His Word, the Bible, and find out what He wants us to do, then ask Him to help us do it.
Finally I explained to the class, “These letters are our friends. They’re going to help us to read so we can learn many wonderful things out of books. Tyshana, what would you think if I called you ‘Danny’, or called Danny, ‘Jessica’?”
“That would be silly,” she giggled.
“Well, we need to learn the right name of each of these letters, so let’s not call any other letter but this one ‘A’. Now what’s the name of this one,” I asked, pointing to a “G”, the last one on our list.
“L,” she said hesitantly.
I wondered how long it would take little Tyshana to learn her letters. It was going to take a lot of patience to teach them to her.
And how patient God is with us! We are so slow to learn what sin is and that we are sinners. God tells us over and over again in His Word, the Bible, that every one of us is a sinner. He says in Romans 3:2222Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Romans 3:22) and 23, “There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” And another verse says this: “By one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12).
Now, some of you boys and girls may not think you have any sins because you’ve never done anything you think is really, really bad. You can think of lots of sins that other children have done. Eric pushed Tommy off the climbing bars. Lynn stole a piece of candy out of Paula’s locker. Frankie said a bad word and got sent to the principal’s office. But you haven’t done anything that bad; what they did were really sins.
But have you ever told a lie? Have you ever not bothered to clean up your room when you were told to? What about calling your brother or sister a name? God calls every one of these a sin, and that means that you are a sinner.
Every one of us is a sinner. But God still loves us! He hates our sins, but He loves sinners. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). He not only loves us, but the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, died on Calvary’s cross to pay the penalty for our sins so that we don’t have to be punished for them. All you have to do is admit to God that you are a sinner and believe that Jesus died for your sins. God erases your sins forever! “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18).
God loves you and is still patiently waiting for you. Will you let His Son save you from your sins?
ML-04/19/1992