TICK TOOK! Tick tock! All through the day and all night long the clock had faithfully ticked off the moments, and by it the family had kept on schedule through all their activities.
Then one day things began to go wrong. The children came home saying that they had been late for school that morning. And when Daddy came from work Mother was just putting their evening meal on the stove.
"Something must be wrong with the clock," said Daddy. "June, you go over and ask Auntie Myrt if we can borrow her clock for a night."
Away went June and soon came back with Auntie Myrt's clock which her father placed on the shelf alongside of their own clock. The next morning, sure enough, their own clock was slower than ever.
"We must find out what's wrong with our clock," said Daddy, and taking it down he opened the little door at the back. What do you think he found?
Well, a little spider had made the inside of the clock her home and had spun little threads of web from the wheels across to the little pendulum, thus slowing down its timing.
The little spider hurried away as fast as she could to make her home elsewhere. Daddy cleaned out the cobwebs, and the clock began to faithfully tick off the moments again as before.
So the trouble was inside the clock! And what was wrong inside was reflected outside — the hands went wrong too.
This is what is wrong with so many boys and girls, and older people too, today. They are wrong inside! The hearts of people are not right. And only the Lord can make them right! "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts . . . murders, thefts, . . . wickedness . . . pride . . . All these things come from within." Mark 7:21-23. The Lord told the Pharisees in His day to "cleanse first that which is within." (Matt. 23:26).
What we need is to have our hearts cleansed from our sins by the blood of Jesus shed on Calvary. So it was King David prayed, "Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psa. 51). "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7.
Messages of the Love of God 4/13/1975