Gross Outside, Gross Inside

Bible Reading: Psalm 51:7-10

Lily jumped over a puddle and wrinkled her nose. She moved to the side to avoid a soggy straw wrapper someone had left on the ground. “Everything just seems so gross today.”

Her mom smiled at her. “Sometimes when everything gets rained on, it can get a little yucky.”

“I just want to get an ice-cream cone and go back to our freshly cleaned house,” Lily said.

Mom laughed. “Me too, sweetie.” She pulled the restaurant door open and motioned Lily inside. “You know,” she said, her face looking serious, “sometimes I feel gross inside of me.”

Lily stepped up to the back of the long line leading up to the counter. “What do you mean?”

“When I’ve done something I know God doesn’t want me to do, it can make me feel gross,” Mom replied. “Boy, am I glad that Jesus doesn’t let me stay that way. He cleans me up quickly when I ask Him to, just like how we cleaned the house today.”

Lily frowned. She wasn’t quite sure what her mom meant.

Later, after they were back at the house and their ice cream was gone, Lily went to her bedroom. As she sat down on the floor, she saw the piece of paper she had hidden in her closet sticking out from a stack of books—her history test.

Suddenly, Lily was pretty sure she understood what her mom had been talking about earlier. She had gotten a bad grade on her test, but when her mom asked her about it, Lily said she had done fine and then hid the test so her mom wouldn’t find out the truth. She felt gross inside each time she saw it, knowing that she had lied about her grade.

Lily thought of the dirty puddles, the soggy straw wrapper, and the way it had felt to walk across that parking lot. “Jesus, can you clean all that up inside of me?” she asked.

She went to her closet and grabbed the test. “I’m sorry, Jesus,” she whispered before she headed out of her room to do the right thing. “Please forgive me and make me clean. I don’t want to feel gross any longer.”

-Emily Acker

How About You?

Do you ever feel gross inside because of something you’ve done? Maybe you lied to your parents or were mean to a brother or sister. Sin can make us feel dirty inside, but if you know Jesus, you don’t have to feel that way, because He saved you from sin. When you confess your sins to Him, He promises to forgive you and make you clean.

Today’s Key Verse:
Psalm 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (NKJV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Jesus cleans away sin