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Bible Reading: 1 Peter 1:18-21

“Hey, Mom!” Emilia said. “We should have a doctor like the one in this book I’m reading. Instead of making people come to his office when they got sick, he went to their houses. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Mom smiled. “That’s the way it was done a long, long time ago—and some doctors are even starting to do it that way again now.”

“Dr. Barnes was a medical missionary who worked in an African village where they didn’t have a doctor,” Emilia continued. “This book tells about a girl he helped. She was really sick, and her family was very poor. They didn’t have money to pay for a doctor, but Dr. Barnes took care of her anyway for free.”

Sebastian, Emilia’s brother, looked up. “Free? Hey, you’re right—we should have a doctor like that!”

“I don’t get this next part though,” Emilia went on. “The girl’s mother said it was a good thing not everybody was sick, because most doctors wouldn’t take care of people who couldn’t pay. But Dr. Barnes told her everybody actually was sick—sick with sin. He said they needed something to make them well spiritually, but that there was no way they could buy what they needed.” Emilia paused. “I don’t really get what it means to be sick with sin.”

“Well, I’d say he meant that everyone is born with a sinful nature and can’t help doing wrong things,” Mom explained. “It’s like they have a sickness that won’t go away. Nothing they can do or buy will take away the disease of sin. Only God can do that, and He freely offers the remedy to anyone who wants it.”

“I get it!” Sebastian said. “We could never pay to be saved from sin, but Jesus paid the price for us.”

“Right,” said Mom. “When we trust in Him, He frees us from sin and gives us the power to do what’s right so we can live healthy lives. It’s a gift.”

“Oh!” Emilia said. “Just like the doctor’s treatment of that little girl was a gift. Without it, she would never have gotten healthy on her own.”

“Exactly,” said Mom. “The only cure for the sickness of sin is God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus.” – Harry C. Trover

How About You?

Do you want to be healed of sin’s disease? You could never afford to buy the cure, but Jesus bought it for you when He died on the cross. He paid the price of your sin so you could be healed spiritually. When you trust in Him, you are freed from sin’s power and receive eternal life as a gift. It’s free! (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)

Today’s Key Verse:
Romans 8:2 Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Salvation is a gift