Like It Never Happened

Bible Reading: Isaiah 61:1-3; 1 John 1:9

Eyes bugging wide, Zachary stared at the laptop in shock. “What? NO!”

Xenia rushed into his bedroom. “What’s the matter, Zach?”

Stammering, he gestured at the screen. “It…it was right there…and now it’s gone!”

Xenia looked at the document on the screen, blank except for one letter. She turned to her little brother in puzzlement. “T?”

Rising from his chair, Zachary flailed his arms. “It was my science report. I was almost done, but I read it over and noticed one place where I said news instead of newts. So I went in and typed T, and everything disappeared!” He choked on his words.

Patting Zachary on the shoulder, Xenia smiled. “Relax, I know what happened. You accidentally selected the whole document first. The computer thought you were replacing it all with T.”

Zachary fought tears. “But I didn’t mean to do that!”

“It’s okay. Watch this.” Holding down one key with her little finger, Xenia tapped another key with her index finger. As if by magic, “Our Amphibian Friends” reappeared, every last word.

Jaw dropping, Zachary gasped. “Whew, thanks! How did you fix it?”

Xenia pointed to the keyboard. “I pressed control-Z. That tells the computer to undo what you just did.”

“Wow!” Awed, Zachary sat at his desk again and corrected the word newts. “My report’s perfect now. It’s like that never even happened.”

“Yes, that’s a lot like us.” Xenia winked.

“Like us? What do you mean?” asked Zachary.

“Remember what we learned about Jesus at church?”

Zachary nodded. “You mean how He died and rose again so that we can go to heaven?”

“Right. We’ve all done things we’d like to take back—stuff a lot worse than erasing a science report. But we don’t have to be stuck with these mistakes forever. Jesus paid the price for our sins, and when we trust in Him, all our sins are forgiven. So to God, it’s like they never happened. We can be perfect to Him.”

“I get it,” said Zachary. “Jesus pressed control-Z on my sins!”

Xenia chuckled. “Yes, and here’s something else Jesus does that’s like this computer.” Xenia pressed control-S, saving the report. “He saves us!” -John Leatherman

How About You?

Have you ever done something you wish you hadn’t? Does it seem like you could never make it right? You can’t make yourself right with God, but Jesus can! He gave His life to pay for all your sins. When you trust in Him, your sins are forgiven, and God will accept you into His grace as if it never happened.

Today’s Key Verse:
Isaiah 1:18 Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. (NKJV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Jesus saves us from sin