A Dirty Rag

Bible Reading: Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:5-9

“Mom,” Davy said as he scrubbed the car. “Can I ask you a question?” “I don’t know, can you?” his mom responded with a teasing smile. “Mom, this is serious!” Davy cried.

“Okay, sorry,” Mom said. “Fire away!”

“Jake and I were talking about heaven today, and he said he thinks the good things he’s done will be enough to get him there,” Davy said. “I thought only Jesus could get us into heaven. Who’s right?”

Mom put down the sponge she was using to wash the car’s windows. “I’m glad you asked, Davy. It’s critical we understand how salvation works. The only way to be saved from sin and have eternal life is through Jesus Christ. Doing good things won’t get us that. I’ll explain more, but first, could you grab that rag over there by the hose?” Davy quickly retrieved the dirty ripped cloth and awaited further instructions. “Now, clean the car with it,” said Mom.

“What?” Davy stared at the limp rag. “Mom, this thing is filthy! We need to use a clean rag to wash the car.”

“You’re absolutely right!” Mom said. “If you try to wash a dirty car with a dirty cloth, it won’t be cleaned. It’s the same with salvation. Our good deeds come from our human hearts, which are dirty with sin and evil. So, when we take our deeds, which are dirty, and try to cleanse ourselves, can we become clean?”

“No, we can’t,” Davy answered slowly.

“Now, if the story stopped there, it would be pretty hopeless. But Jesus, who never sinned, was spotless and therefore able to clean our dirty hearts by dying for our sins on the cross so we could have His goodness. That’s salvation.”

“Okay, I think I understand. Our own deeds can’t save us, but Jesus can. But, Mom, why do we need to be clean in the first place?” Davy asked.

“Because God is holy and perfect,” Mom answered. “He can’t have sin in His midst, so we must be clean in order to have eternal life with Him.”

“And that’s why we need to trust in Jesus,” Davy said. “So He can clean our sins away.”

“Exactly.” Mom smiled. “Now, hand me a clean rag and let’s wash this car!” • Natalie Crowe

How About You?

Do you think your good deeds will get you to heaven? They won’t. Trying to make ourselves good when our hearts are full of sin is like trying to clean something with a dirty rag—it doesn’t work. You need Jesus, the perfect Son of God, to save you. He took the punishment for your sin so you could be clean. You can only have eternal life by trusting Him. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)

Today’s Key Verse:
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Only Jesus can save us