Gloria was about six years old, and she was angry—very angry! She had just had a bad quarrel with her sister. Slamming the door behind her, she threw herself on the grass behind their home. She wanted to hurt somebody or something!
In front of her, she saw a spider. Now, most little girls don’t want to touch spiders, but Gloria lived on a farm, and she had held spiders before. She knew this kind of spider was safe for her to hold. But the spider was not safe from Gloria! She reached out and caught the spider and then began to slowly pull off its legs, one by one. Finally, only the spider’s body was left, and she dropped it in the grass and watched it squirm for a while. Then, having gotten rid of some of her anger, she got up and went back into the house.
But Gloria had a conscience, just like you and I have. As the day passed, she began to feel more and more guilty about her cruelty to a helpless spider. It wasn’t just what she had done to the spider that bothered her, but her growing realization of what her own heart was like—how sinful it was! She was miserable. Gloria went back outside to see if she could find what was left of the spider, but she couldn’t—and she knew she couldn’t undo what she had done even if she had found the spider.
That evening, as usual, her father read the Bible with the family. Then they all knelt while he began to pray for his family as he had often done before. Gloria couldn’t bear it. She crawled to her mother and whispered, “I have to pray.” Her mother understood the urgency and quietly interrupted Gloria’s father. He and Gloria’s sister both came over to her, knelt beside her and put their arms around her. They knew she was miserable. Then Gloria began to tell the Lord Jesus how bad she was and how she wanted and needed His forgiveness.
It was the beginning of a new life for Gloria. She was relieved of her guilt, and now she was also free to love her sister and family and friends as never before. Besides that, she wanted to share what little she knew about Jesus with everyone.
Now, how about you? Have you ever come to Jesus and confessed to Him your sin and your need of His salvation? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)). And then He promises, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:1212For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12)).
ML-11/19/2017