Kenny was a busy two-year-old who loved playing with his older brother. He was always delighted when either he or his brother was given a new and exciting toy.
One day Kenny found some tiny magnets on the rug that had fallen out of one of his brother’s new toys. He had no idea what they were when he picked up several of those magnets and put them in his mouth. It wasn’t long before he swallowed them.
Because the magnets were so small, there was the good possibility that they would pass through his body without causing harm. However, it was the nature of those magnets to pull together, and that caused a very sad ending to this story.
Most boys and girls, and even grown-ups too, will go through their daily lives without thinking about the results of sin. We know from the Bible that God hates sin, and no sin can ever enter His wonderful home in heaven. There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “All have sinned” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). That makes each one of us a sinner, and our sins will keep us out of heaven, which will be an even worse ending to our lives.
Not long after Kenny had swallowed those magnets, he began to feel very sick and began having pain that got worse. His parents decided that they had better take him to the hospital. What they didn’t know and what the doctors didn’t know was that two of those little magnets had pulled together in such a way that Kenny’s small intestine was twisted and blocked. It makes us very sad to tell you that in just a few minutes after Kenny arrived at the hospital, he died from the results of the blockage caused by those tiny magnets.
Those magnets were so small that it makes us wonder how they could cause such a serious problem for little Kenny and be responsible for taking his young life. But the truth is—they did. Kenny was too young to understand that magnets, little or big, can be dangerous. But any boy or girl who can read this story can understand that our sins, whether little or big, are dangerous. God doesn’t call certain sins “little” or “big.” In His eyes they are all SIN and are dangerous, because even just one sin will keep us out of heaven. God says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:44Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)). And that death for unforgiven sinners is to spend eternity in that terrible place called hell. It is a real place where the devil and his angels will spend eternity.
God doesn’t want to send any of us there, because He loves us so much and wants us to live in heaven with His Son Jesus. He sent His Son to Calvary’s cross to pay the price for the sins of any sinner who will come to Him to have his or her sins forgiven. How wonderful that because of Jesus’ suffering and death, God is offering forgiveness to anyone—that includes you and me. One of His promises is in Jeremiah 31:3434And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34) where He says, “I will forgive their iniquity [sin], and I will remember their sin no more.”
Boys and girls, if you have not accepted God’s forgiveness for your sins through faith in His Son Jesus, don’t wait. Do it right now, and I’ll see you in heaven someday. “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:77Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. (Romans 4:7)).
ML-07/18/2010