Memory Verse: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
There was a certain kind of cookie that was Frances’s favorite. Her mother did not buy them very often, and when she did, the little girl was given only one each day so the sugar wouldn’t ruin her teeth.
One day Frances quietly opened the cookie drawer and quickly took the whole package out and went outside. The first cookie was delicious, not quite as good as usual, but delicious just the same. The second one was very good. She ate it more slowly. The third one wasn’t nearly so good, and she found she was too full to finish it. Sitting with the half-eaten cookie in her hand, she began to think. She realized she couldn’t undo what she had done. If she put the half-eaten cookie back, her mother would ask a lot of questions that she didn’t want to answer. She didn’t want to keep the smeary cookie package in her hand, so she decided she had better hide it somewhere outside, far away from the house. The farthest place she could think of was the mailbox out at the street. She stuffed the package of cookies and the half-eaten cookie in the mailbox and closed the door of the box without anyone seeing her. She ran off to play and forgot about the cookies. Now the Bible says, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13.
The next day was sunny and bright, and Frances was playing happily when her mother came to her with a very sad face. She had a smeary cookie package with a half-eaten cookie in it in her hand, and there were ants all over the cookies. She asked Frances to tell her what she knew about the cookies. Frances told her mother the whole story because she was found out. She had hidden the cookies in the one place her mother was sure to look each day.
Of course she was found out. There were tears, and punishment, and forgiveness. It wasn’t just her mother whom Frances had sinned against, but God as well. Stealing is a sin, and she needed to ask God for forgiveness. Because Frances believed that God gave His Son to die for her sins she could be forgiven and say, “thank you” to Him. This is the Bible verse Frances’s mother taught her: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalms 19:14.
ML-03/16/1986