What a wonderful day this had been! Lynn and her best friend Caroline had just come back from a Sunday school picnic. They had teamed up for the water balloon contest, and it had been so much fun, tossing the water-filled balloon back and forth - until it burst and splattered Caroline! They had entered the “three-legged” race together and won a prize. They had eaten their fill of hot dogs and watermelon. But now it was evening, and the exciting day was almost over. The two girls chattered happily as they went out the back door of Lynn’s house to pick up some things Caroline had left in the yard. It was dark outside, but the summer evening was warm and full of the sweet smell of lilac bushes.
A furry little animal appeared in their path, but Lynn paid little attention, thinking it was Misty, the family cat. But it was NOT the family cat.
Suddenly, Lynn’s screams split the night air. They were blood-curdling screams and heard all over the neighborhood. “I’ve been sprayed! . . . I’ve been sprayed by a skunk!” she screamed frantically and burst into horrified tears.
Lynn’s one thought was to go to her parents who always helped her when she was in trouble, and still screaming she ran to the house. She burst through the back door and into the kitchen.
Lynn’s father had been sitting inside the house when he heard the commotion and quickly headed for the back door. Do you think he welcomed her into the living room and suggested that she sit on the furniture? He did nothing of the kind! Instead, he firmly turned her around and sent her OUT the back door.
Why do you suppose he did that? He saw that Lynn’s legs were covered with awful-smelling skunk spray, and he could not have that smell in his house. And so he sent her right outside again.
There is another Father who loves you even more than Lynn’s father loves his daughter. We read that “God SO loved the world” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). He loves you so much that He wants to have you in His home in heaven for eternity. But there is something that He cannot allow in His home, and that is sin. God is holy, and sin is so serious and so terrible to Him that He can never have it in heaven. In spite of His love for you, He will have to turn you away from heaven if you have not accepted His remedy for your sins.
Lynn’s father needed a remedy for Lynn. He began by getting a pail of water and sloshing it all over her legs. But even after pails and pails of water, she still smelled awful!
The skunk spray had missed her friend Caroline, so she had quietly slipped away and gone back to her own home. It was getting late, and Caroline knew her parents would want her to get to bed. But Lynn could not get in her own bed yet! She was still in trouble. Water was just not enough to take away that horrible stench. So her father found an article listing “home remedies” for the smell of a skunk.
We need a remedy for our sins, because we can’t scrub them away: “Though thou wash thee with nitre [chemicals], and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity [sin] is marked before Me, saith the Lord God” (Jeremiah 2:2222For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God. (Jeremiah 2:22)). Being kind to others or going to Sunday school or doing our best won’t work either. That is like washing Lynn’s legs with water, which didn’t take away her problem. But there is a sure remedy for sin. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). The Lord Jesus loved us so much that He died on the cross and shed His blood, so that our sins can be completely removed forever.
The article suggested a number of things for Lynn, and she tried them one by one. First she scrubbed her legs with a mouthwash! Next she tried vanilla extract, rubbing it into her legs. Then her mother used a solution with bleach in it to try to get rid of the still-lingering smell. After all that, she was finally allowed in the house. She rushed upstairs to take a bath and wash her hair - anything to make her feel clean again!
The remedies that Lynn used did not cost very much. But the remedy for sin cost the Lord Jesus more than we could ever pay - it cost Him His own life. He died on the cross so that we could have our sins removed forever and enter His beautiful home in heaven. “The Son of God . . . loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)).
I hope you will never be sprayed by a skunk like Lynn was, but you have already sinned. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). You need a remedy or you will someday find yourself shut out of heaven. What a sad and terrible thing that would be. Don’t wait until it is too late. Tell the Lord Jesus that you are a sinner and want Him to take away your sins and make you clean. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)).
ML-11/25/2001